On May 5, Fox News host Tucker Carlson lied that “almost 4,000 people” have “died after getting the COVID vaccines” and argued that the current vaccination campaign is the “single deadliest mass vaccination event in modern history.” There is no credible evidence to support Carlson’s claims about the vaccines, which are safe and effective. Instead, Carlson was misrepresenting unreliable information from the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System, or VAERS — a public government database where individuals can self-report supposed adverse events following a vaccination. And months before Carlson used the database to promote anti-vaccine misinformation, similar theories were circulating on fringe online platforms.