FOI reference: FOI-2025-3080
You asked
Could you kindly provide the following in relation to the prevelance of non-Covid-19 deaths in 2021:
Any quality assurance data and/or audit findings (internal/external) from 2021 to date, specifically examining any instances where Covid-19 vaccine may have been later considered either a i) contributing factor ii) primary factor for the cause of death.
Please include any corrections, reclassifications or identification of any recording practices which could have influenced these earlier (mis)attributions: especially in light of the temporary measures in place through the Coronavirus Act 2020.
We said
Thank you for your request.
Deaths registered as attributed to the COVID-19 vaccine in England and Wales up until July 2023 can be found in Table 14 of Monthly mortality analysis, England and Wales. The ICD-10 code is U12.9, 'COVID-19 vaccines causing adverse effects in therapeutic use, unspecified'. Based on deaths registered between March 2020 and July 2023, in England, there were 63 deaths involving U12.9 and 55 deaths due to U12.9; in Wales, there was one death involving U12.9, and this was also listed as the underlying cause.
Please note that deaths "involving" a cause refer to deaths that had this cause mentioned anywhere on the death certificate, whether as an underlying cause or not. Deaths "due to" a cause refer only to deaths that had this as the underlying cause of death. Figures usually consist of first registrations only. On occasion, after further investigation, a death can be re-registered as a different cause of death. For transparency of our statistics, these figures include re-registrations as well as initial registrations.
This publication was discontinued in August 2023. Information showing deaths registered as attributed to the COVID-19 vaccine after July 2023 can be requested as an ad hoc data table by contacting health.data@ons.gov.uk. Such services are subject to disclosure controls, resources, legal frameworks, and an agreement of costs in line with our Charging Policy.
As such, Section 21(2)(a) of FOIA applies, as the requested information is reasonably accessible via another route, even if only accessible on payment.