Neurological Events Reported after COVID-19 Vaccines: An Analysis of VAERS

To identify the rates of neurological events following administration of mRNA (Pfizer, Moderna) or adenovirus vector (Janssen) vaccines in the U.S.. We utilized publicly available data from the U.S. Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) collected between January 1, 2021-June 14, 2021. All free text symptoms that were reported within 42 days of vaccine administration were manually reviewed and grouped into 36 individual neurological diagnostic categories. Post-vaccination neurological event rates were compared between vaccine types and to age-matched baseline incidence rates in the U.S. and rates of neurological events following COVID. Of 306,907,697 COVID vaccine doses administered during the study timeframe, 314,610 (0.1%) people reported any adverse event and 105,214 (0.03%) reported neurological adverse events in a median of 1 day (IQR0-3) from inoculation. Guillain-Barre Syndrome (GBS), and cerebral venous thrombosis (CVT) occurred in fewer than 1 per 1,000,000 doses. Significantly more neurological adverse events were reported following Janssen (Ad26.COV2.S) vaccination compared to either Pfizer-BioNtech (BNT162b2) or Moderna (mRNA-1273; 0.15% versus 0.03% versus 0.03% of doses, respectively,P