Unfortunately, the anti-vaccine movement has used this database to spread misinformation about the COVID-19 vaccine. Consequently, VAERS reports might not only document people’s negative experiences with vaccination but also their attitudes toward vaccination. This further underscores the power this since-debunked study has had in shaping public opinion about the MMR vaccine. Importantly, we also found that adverse event reporting rates rose in tandem with negative media coverage of the MMR vaccine. These results suggest that Wakefield’s article influenced how much more attentive Americans were about the MMR vaccine.