FOI Ref: FOI/2021/2635
You asked
Can you provide figures for the total number of deaths within 28 days following first and second vaccinations by age group?
We said
Thank you for your request.
Deaths within a period of time of receiving the COVID-19 vaccination
We are currently working on analysis on all aspects of the relationship between COVID-19 vaccination and mortality, including:
- Information regarding deaths after 28 days of vaccination, from any cause.
- Information regarding deaths involving or due to COVID-19 after receiving COVID-19 vaccination.
This requires complex analysis linking vaccination records to death registrations. The provisional release date for these publications is September 2021. Once publication dates are finalised, they 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 the COVID-19 vaccination
You can find the number of deaths involving COVID-19 (not restricted to first or second vaccination or within a certain number of days) in table 12 of our Monthly Mortality Analysis dataset, these include figures for deaths involving adverse reactions to the COVID-19 vaccination. There are currently 4 deaths registered with the aligning ICD-10 codes for this (U12.9). The latest data available is June 2021.
However, should this change, they will be updated in this table. This publication is due to be updated in August 2021.
If you have any further enquiries, please contact Health.Data@ons.gov.uk