A New Interactive Tool Weighs Vaccine Risks for You

We live in a time when mixed messages about vaccines are the norm. Often, the Trump administration says one thing, while public health officials say another, leaving at least half of Americans in what the independent health policy organization KFF called the “malleable middle.” They remain uncertain when presented with vaccine myths .

To address the confusion, the free “ What’s the Risk? ” tool launched in early August. It allows users to visualize the vaccine risks often described as “rare” or “uncommon” right alongside the risks associated with the diseases they were created to prevent.

The interactive tool was designed by the University of Minnesota’s Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy and Unbiased Science , a public health communication platform and podcast founded by Jessica Steier , a public health scientist.

More comparisons will be added over time, but right now, you can see the measles and the MMR vaccine and RSV alongside its vaccines and antibody products. Plus, you can compare them to life events, such as deaths caused by drowning, car crashes, falls, bee or wasp stings and lightning strikes.

First, choose one of the suggested comparisons or build your own by selecting two from the dropdowns.

But before you scroll down to see the comparison, Steier told CNET in an email that you should read the “Before you compare: a few things to know” list at the top. It explains, for example, that what happens if you get infected versus what happens if you get vaccinated aren’t equally likely. For the former, it depends on many factors, such as where you live and travel and how many people around you are vaccinated.

“They tell you what each side of the comparison is holding constant, and that shapes how you should read everything below it,” Steier said.

Scroll down to view the two side-by-side light gray boxes. Each represents 100,000 people in the population indicated above the boxes in color-coded bands. Comparisons are most reliable when comparing the same population, so when two different age groups are shown, you should treat the results as a rough sense of scale rather than a precise number.

Plus, these are population averages. Your personal risk will depend on your age, health status and lifestyle circumstances.

All numbers are shown as an annual rate, unless labeled otherwise. Since everyday risks are usually published as lifetime figures, those had to be converted.

Within the light gray boxes, you’ll find colored squares representing each risk. They’re sized to indicate the number of people affected by the stated complication. “A very rare outcome shows up as a tiny speck and a common one as a large block,” said Steier.

Each square has a color meant to illustrate the severity of the outcome. Red indicates serious outcomes, while dark gray indicates those considered mild or temporary.

If you hover over a square or tap on it, you can read the details and see links to the sources for the number shown by the square.

Above the squares, you can switch to a grid view for a different perspective. You can also zoom in to see the risks represented in a population of 50,000.