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FACT BRIEF

Did hackers 'crack' the servers of Pfizer and Moderna and reveal COVID-19 vaccine death data?

By Christiana Dillard
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NO

The data used to make the claim in an online article is from the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS), a database that keeps a record of reported but often unconfirmed adverse effects. The article's headline notwithstanding, the servers of Pfizer and Moderna were not hacked.

The article provided a link to data from the website "How Bad Is My Batch" that it claims is related to COVID-19 vaccine deaths. The end of the article reveals that the data source is VAERS, not hackers, with a statement saying, "All data is sourced from VAERS, a public database of over 700,000 adverse reaction reports for Moderna, Pfizer and Janssen Covid 19 vaccines in the USA."

Because data found in VAERS comes from numerous, sometimes unverified, sources, that data do not establish a causal relationship between vaccines and the reported adverse effects. 

See a full discussion of this at Lead Stories
This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.
Sources
US Department of Health and Human Services Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS)
US Department of Health and Human Services About Us
ABOUT THE CONTRIBUTOR
Lead Stories
Lead Stories is a fact checking and debunking website at the intersection of big data and journalism that launched in 2015. It scouts for trending stories, images, videos and posts that contain false information in order to fact check them as quickly as possible. It actively monitors the fake-news ecosystem and doesn’t wait for reader tips or reports before getting started on a story.
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About fact briefs published on Gigafact
Fact briefs are short, credibly sourced summaries that offer “yes/no” answers in response to claims found online. They rely on publicly available, often primary source data and documents. Fact briefs are created by contributors to Gigafact —a nonprofit project looking to expand participation in fact-checking and protect the democratic process. See all fact briefs here.