Yeah tinnitus can appear out of the blue but usually there is a trigger. The person who just woke up with it tends to have a history of loud noise exposure or ototoxic meds.

When looking at the reports of people having sudden onset of hearing issues hours after getting the shot, as well as other symptoms it’s likely that it’s not a coincidence especially when thousands of people experience those effects

They’re not just looking at tinnitus as a side effect but auditory issues in general. I also don’t think tinnitus should be trivialized like that and many sufferers will tell you they’d rather have hearing loss than severe tinnitus