FOI-2023-1609
You asked
Could you please confirm for me, that there have been more deaths from Coronavirus (COVID-19) among the vaccinated than there have been from unvaxed.
Can you also clarify if the term 'involving Covid' actually means deaths from COVID-19 entirely or does the term mean that the victim has died from something else but has also had COVID-19 at the time of death.
We said
Thank you for your request.
We currently hold data for deaths by vaccination status between April 2021 and May 2023 in England, which can be found in Table 5 in Deaths by vaccination status, England - Office for National Statistics. For this analysis we define a death as involving COVID-19 if either of the ICD10 codes U07.1 ('COVID-19, virus identified') or U07.2 ('COVID-19, virus not identified') is mentioned on the death certificate. Over this time period and in this population group, there were 8,853 deaths involving COVID-19 among people who had not been vaccinated, and 51,975 deaths involving COVID-19 among people who had received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine.
However, it is important to note that many more people in the population were vaccinated than unvaccinated over this time period, so the age-standardised rate of death involving COVID-19 (which accounts for different sized population groups), rather than the number of deaths, should be used when comparing mortality between vaccination groups (See Table 1 and Table 2 of the release linked above). Monthly age-standardised mortality rates for deaths involving COVID-19 have been consistently lower for all months since the booster dose was introduced in September 2021 for people who had received a third dose or booster at least 21 days ago, compared with unvaccinated people and those with just a first or second dose. The age-standardised mortality rates for deaths involving COVID-19 have been consistently lower for all months since the fourth dose or extra booster was introduced in spring 2022 for people who had received at least a fourth dose or extra booster at least 21 days ago, compared with unvaccinated people and those with just a first, second or third dose.
Further information for periods beyond May 2023, we would need to create new information. Under the Freedom of Information Act 2000, Public Authorities are not obligated to create information in order to respond to requests. This information therefore is not held.
"Deaths involving COVID-19" are calculated from death certificates where COVID-19 was mentioned anywhere on the certificate, either in Part 1 (the condition or sequence of conditions leading directly to death) or Part 2 (any associated conditions that contributed to the death but are not part of the causal sequence). When a condition is mentioned anywhere on the death certificate then it played some role in the death, according to the judgement of the certifying doctor or coroner. If the deceased had COVID-19 but this did not play any role in their death, it should not be mentioned on the death certificate.