Numbers are generally meaningless without proper context. One basic way to establish a baseline on the safety profile of a new therapeutic is to look back in history and compare the number of related adverse events and/or deaths to that of other therapeutics. Below is a chart showing major drug and vaccine recalls in FDA/CDC history, and the number of reported deaths associated with those therapeutics based on FAERS (FDA Adverse Event Reporting System) or VAERS:
UPDATE 10/29/21: Chart Updated. Also note that the diet drug “Fen/Phen” was replaced with Meridia (also another diet drug), since Fen/Phen was actually two separate drugs, both of which were FDA approved separately, but the combination of which caused a recall, making it difficult to sort out truly how many deaths were related to the combination rather than the drugs taken individually.
[…] heart attacks and strokes and was eventually recalled in 2004, was only associated directly with 6,634 deaths according to FAERS (though other estimates start at 55,000 and go even higher…much more on […]