Since the COVID-19 vaccines were first released to the public, a common narrative has emerged around their side effects — namely, that they're pretty bad. Anecdotal evidence suggests that the the second of the two-shot Moderna vaccine had worse side effects than the Pfizer vaccine, though both were purportedly worse than average; meanwhile, the Johnson & Johnson vaccine suffered a public image blow when it was paused for distribution because four women suffered serious blood clot side effects.
But personal anecdotes do not make for good science; one influencer suffering a rough vaccine side effect, and, say, popularizing their story on Instagram, is different from a scientific study that looks at thousands of patients to ascertain the average severity of side effects. So, from a statistical perspective, it is worth asking: did COVID-19 vaccines — and the boosters that followed — really have side effects that were that bad compared to other, less novel vaccines and boosters?
