The data came from the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS), a federal program that collects information regarding adverse effects that occur after the administration of vaccines. VAERS is a passive system, which means that the program does not automatically collect reports; instead, affected individuals – patients, family members, physicians and other healthcare workers and providers – must file them.
According to VAERS’ own website, the reports submitted to the system represent only a small fraction of actual adverse events. However, underreporting is believed to be less common for serious events. This means that while only 55 people were reported to have died because of coronavirus vaccines, there are potentially dozens more out there suffering from adverse reactions.