# Plain Language Summary: Vaccine Transparency Act of 2021

This bill requires two federal health agencies—the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)—to regularly report to Congress about serious health problems people experience after receiving a COVID-19 vaccine. Specifically, the agencies must submit a report every 60 days listing all serious adverse events (meaning significant negative health reactions) that have been reported to them through the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System or through other channels. The first report would cover all serious adverse events dating back to when the FDA first authorized emergency use of COVID-19 vaccines, and then subsequent reports would cover each new 60-day period going forward.

The practical effect of this bill is to create a formal reporting requirement that brings vaccine safety information directly to Congress on a regular schedule. Currently, the FDA and CDC track adverse events through existing systems, but this bill mandates they compile and submit this data to lawmakers every two months rather than leaving it to Congress to request the information. This means members of Congress would have regular, standardized updates about reported vaccine side effects without having to ask for them individually.

The bill doesn't change how the agencies investigate these reports or what they do with the information—it simply requires them to document and share what they're already receiving with the legislative branch. For the general public, this could mean more transparency about vaccine safety data, though the reports would go to Congress first rather than directly to the public. The bill doesn't specify what Congress should do with this information or whether it would be made publicly available, so the actual impact on everyday people would depend on how Congress chooses to use and share these reports.

Vaccine Transparency Act of 2021

Steube, W. Gregory

Vaccine Transparency Act of 2021 This bill requires the Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to periodically report to Congress on the serious adverse events in connection with a COVID-19 (i.e., coronavirus disease 2019) vaccine that have been reported to either agency.