[Rare adverse events following immunization: coincidence]

The high standards of safety and effectiveness of vaccines have allowed them to get a prominent role in disease prevention and health protection. However, like any other intervention, vaccination is not free from risks. Rare adverse events occur after immunization in less than one in a thousand individuals and can be linked to vaccination by causality or coincidence. These events are reported on the SmPC (Summary of Product Characteristics). We have first divided the rare adverse events in local and generalized, and then we have analyzed them according to the type of vaccine linked to the event. Communication of the benefits of vaccines, that are surely greater than their risks, must take place in a conscious and scientific way, in order to avoid vaccinations being perceived as an imposition, instead of the great opportunity for everyone that they are.