People living in states with more Republican voters were more likely to report COVID-19 vaccine side effects than those in states that lean blue.
That's according to a new study that looked at 620,456 COVID-19 vaccine adverse event reports from adults reported to the federal Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System. The study was published in JAMA.
The study found a 10% increase in state Republican voting was associated with a 5% increase in the odds that a COVID-19 vaccine adverse event would be reported, a 25% increase in the odds that a severe adverse event would be reported, and a 21% increase in the odds that any reported adverse event would be severe.
"This cross-sectional study found that the more states were inclined to vote Republican, the more likely their vaccine recipients or their clinicians reported COVID-19 vaccine [adverse events]," the authors wrote. "These results suggest that either the perception of vaccine [adverse events] or the motivation to report them was associated with political inclination."