You asked
How many care home residents have died after receiving the COVID-19 vaccination?
We said
Thank you for your enquiry.
Our mortality data comes from the information collected at death registration. All of the conditions mentioned on the death certificate are coded using the International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision (ICD-10). From all of these causes an underlying cause of death is selected using ICD-10 coding rules. Information on whether the deceased was vaccinated is not recorded on the death certificate.
We are currently developing our analytical plans with an intention to publish detailed vaccination statistics soon. Once we have finalised these plans a publication date will be announced on our Release Calendar. As such, the information you have requested is considered exempt under Section 22(1) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000, whereby information is exempt from release if there is a view to publish the information in the future. Furthermore, as a central government department and producer of official statistics, we need to have the freedom to be able to determine our own publication timetables. This is to allow us to deal with the necessary preparation, administration and context of publications. It would be unreasonable to consider disclosure when to do so would undermine our functions.
This exemption is subject to a public interest test. We recognise the desirability of information being freely available and this is considered by ONS when publication schedules are set in accordance with the Code of Practice for Statistics. The need for timely data must be balanced against the practicalities of applying statistical skill and judgement to produce the high quality, assured data needed to inform decision-making. If this balance is incorrectly applied, then we run the risk of decisions being based on inaccurate data which is arguably not in the public interest. This will have an impact on public trust in official statistics in a time when accuracy of official statistics is more important to the public than ever before.
Deaths involving adverse reactions to the COVID-19 vaccination are available in Table 12 of our Monthly Mortality Analysis dataset. There are currently no deaths registered with the aligning ICD-10 codes for this cause. Should this change, this table will be updated.
In case it is of interest, the provisional numbers of COVID-19 deaths registered in care homes in England and Wales, 2020 and 2021, can be found in our latest provisional weekly deaths publication.
If you wish to discuss this further, please contact us at health.data@ons.gov.uk.