Understanding the VAERS dataset

Three CSV files for each year

DATA CSV files has most of the relevant information about the patient, and also include a clinical narrative (free form text) called SYMPTOM_TEXT. Notice that it can hold up to 32000 characters. You will sometimes see very long reports, especially from foreign VAERS.

SYMPTOMS CSV files describes a list of symptoms, can be multiple rows per VAERS ID

VAX CSV files lists all the vaccines that the patient took during the last visit

(Note: prior COVID19 vaccine doses are not always added into this list even though the clinical narrative mentions it)