Privacy Policies & Disclaimers
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1-800-822-7967
Privacy Policies and Disclaimers
- The HIPAA Privacy Rule
- Privacy Policy
- Use of Cookies
- About Links to Other Web sites
- Copyright Status Disclaimer
- Liability Disclaimer
- Medical Information Disclaimer
- Accessibility (Section 508)
- Technical Requirements
- Additional Information
The HIPAA Privacy Rule top
The HIPAA Privacy Rule of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 provides protection for the privacy of certain individually identifiable health data. The HIPAA Privacy Rule expressly permits disclosure without individual authorization to public health authorities authorized by law to collect or receive information for the purpose of preventing or controlling disease, injury, or disability, including but not limited to public health surveillance, investigation, and intervention.
The impact of the HIPAA Privacy Rule on the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) is as follows: The VAERS Program Office is an entity working under the direction of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which are both public health authorities. Data collected on the VAERS form includes information about the patient, the vaccination(s) given, the reported adverse event, and the person reporting the event.
The CDC and FDA require additional information on selected VAERS reports for the specific public health purpose of helping to ensure the safety of US licensed vaccines. These selected reports are followed up by a team of nurses to obtain additional information (such as medical records and autopsy reports) in order to provide as complete a picture of the case as possible. The patient's consent is not required in order to release the medical records to VAERS. All records sent to VAERS are kept confidential as required by law.
The signs, symptoms, and diagnoses mentioned in the description of the adverse event are coded and these codes are affixed to the case for indexing purposes. Information obtained from the original VAERS report, follow-up inquiries, and coding activities are stored in a secure computerized database for subsequent analysis. Scanned facsimiles of the original reports are also maintained in a computerized imagebase for FDA and CDC vaccine surveillance activities. VAERS data stripped of personal identifiers are available for download and review on the VAERS Web site.
Computerized and hardcopy documents are kept for a minimum of 30 years.
If you need further information on the HIPAA Privacy Rule, please see the following:
- HIPAA Privacy
Rule and Public Health
Guidance from CDC and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services - Standards for Privacy of Individually Identifiable Health Information
Privacy Policy top
Personal information provided to VAERS which identifies a person who received the vaccine or vaccines will not be made available to the public. You and/or your health care provider may be contacted for follow-up information by VAERS staff after your initial report is received.
Please see The HIPAA Privacy Rule section on this page for specific information about the data collected on the VAERS form, what is done with the data, and how long it is stored.
Information supplied in the on-line submission form will be securely transmitted to VAERS. Click here for more details on how we securely transmit the confidential information that you record on the form.
Unless you voluntarily provide additional information, VAERS collects only the following information as you browse through the VAERS Web site.
- The domain name and browser you use to access the internet;
- The date and time of your visit;
- The pages you visited;
- And, the address of the Web site you visited immediately prior to visiting the VAERS site.
- The type of browser and operating system you used to access our Web site.
VAERS collects this information for statistical purposes and for evaluating the VAERS Web site to make it more useful to the Web site users.
We collect this information on an aggregate basis only. Our Web site logs are not personally identifiable, and we make no attempt to link them with the individuals that actually browse the Web site
If you send an e-mail message to VAERS or complete a questionnaire, form, or other online survey, VAERS will maintain the information in accordance with applicable federal law.
VAERS does not disclose, give, sell, or transfer any personal information about VAERS Web site visitors unless required for law enforcement or otherwise required by law.
For site security purposes and to ensure that this service remains available to all users, VAERS employs software programs to identify unauthorized attempts to upload or change information or otherwise cause damage.
If you have any questions, complaints or comments regarding the VAERS Privacy Policy practices, please contact VAERS.
Use of Cookies top
The VAERS Web site uses non-persistent, temporary or session cookies to assist in analyzing Web site usage more accurately. Non-persistent cookies are small amounts of information stored by your web browser software on your workstation, are not stored on your computer's hard drive and do not collect personal information. They are stored in memory and erased as soon as you leave the Web site.
About Links to Other Web sites top
As a resource for our users, the VAERS Web site maintains a variety of links to other governmental, educational, and not-for profit Web sites with information on vaccines and vaccine safety. If you access another site through a link we provide, you are subject to the privacy policy of that site. Reference on these Web sites to commercial products, services, manufacturers, or companies does not constitute an endorsement by the U.S. government, the Department of Health and Human Services, FDA or CDC. VAERS is not responsible for the content of any pages referred from its Web site.
We welcome suggestions from our users for new useful links. Please contact VAERS with new links or comments/suggestions on existing links.
Copyright Status Disclaimer top
CDC, FDA, and other government information included on the VAERS Web site is in the public domain; however, reference or links to information may be found on the VAERS Web site that is owned or created by others that is copyrighted materials and not in the public domain. Those other parties retain all rights to publish or reproduce those documents or to allow others to do so. Any copyrighted materials included on this Web site remain the property of their respective owners/creators and should not be reproduced or otherwise used. It is not the intent of VAERS to violate or infringe upon any copyrights. If you have any questions, please contact VAERS.
Liability Disclaimer top
VAERS does not warrant or assume any legal liability or responsibility for the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of any information, apparatus, product, or process disclosed in documents available from the VAERS Web site.
Medical Information Disclaimer top
CDC and FDA do not provide individual medical treatment advice or diagnosis. If individual medical or health care advice is needed, please consult a qualified health care provider. If emergency or crisis care is needed, call 911 or your local emergency services facility.
Accessibility (Section 508) top
VAERS is working to ensure that the information available at this Web site is accessible to all. To learn more about the regulations governing the accessibility of federal electronic information products, please see HHS Implementation of Section 508.
Technical Requirements top
This Web site is best viewed on Internet Explorer versions 6.0 and above. Netscape users may best view this Web site using versions 6 and above. If you have any difficulties or concerns with the Web site's display or functionality, please contact VAERS, and include the name and version of the browser you're using.
Download the latest version of Internet Explorer or Netscape.
Additional Information top
For more information about Privacy Policies and Disclaimers, please contact VAERS.