You asked
I would like data summaries on hospitalisations and deaths for those not vaccinated, 1 dose and 2 doses broken down by age, ethnicity and vaccine supplier.
We said
Thank you for your enquiry.
Unfortunately, we do not hold the requested breakdowns of data on hospitalisations. NHS Digital may be better placed to answer your query. They can be contacted via email at enquiries@nhsdigital.nhs.uk, and by telephone at 0300 303 5678.
Deaths caused by the COVID-19 vaccine
You can find the number of deaths involving adverse reactions to the COVID-19 vaccination (not restricted to first or second vaccination) in table 12 of our Monthly Mortality Analysis dataset. There are currently 3 deaths registered with the aligning ICD-10 codes for this (U12.9). The latest data available is June 2021. This publication is due to be updated in July 2021.
Unfortunately, we would be unable to break down this data any further by age and sex, as this would constitute personal information. Section 39 of the Statistics and Registration Service Act 2007 (SRSA) renders it an offence to disclose information held by the Statistics Board for statistical purposes that would identify an individual or a body corporate. As we are prohibited by law from publishing statistics in which individuals can be identified, we find that Section 44 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA) applies. Section 44 is an absolute exemption and no consideration of the public interest test needs to be applied.
Our mortality data is derived from death certificates. Unfortunately, we do not hold information that specifies the brand of vaccine involved in the death, nor do we hold the ethnicity of the deceased, as this information is not supplied on the death certificate.
Deaths following COVID-19 vaccination
Information regarding deaths following the COVID-19 vaccination from any cause requires complex analysis linking vaccination records to death registrations. We are currently working on analysis on all aspects of the relationship between COVID-19 vaccination and mortality. 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.
You may also be interested in the information published by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), which can be found here.
Deaths from COVID-19 by age
The following dataset provide deaths from COVID-19 by age and sex in the tab labelled 'Covid-19 – Weekly registrations': Deaths registered weekly dataset.
Deaths from COVID-19 by ethnicity
The latest analysis we hold relating to COVID-19 deaths by ethnicity is available via the following link: Updating ethnic contrasts in deaths involving the coronavirus (COVID-19), England and Wales: deaths occurring 2 March to 28 July 2020. These analyses are based on a unique linked dataset that encompasses Census 2011 records, death registrations in England and Wales, and hospital episode statistics (HES) with England coverage only. More information about how this is analysis was created be found via the following link: Coronavirus related deaths by ethnicity in England and Wales Methodology.