Vaccination deaths and injuries comparison of Covid-19 vaccination with other vaccinations

FOI Reference: FOI/2022/4307

You asked

Please can I request the documented statistics under the Freedom of Information Act the following:

1. How many recorded deaths are there documented as Covid vaccination being the cause of death.

2. How many documented cases of cardiomyopathy are recorded as the Covid vaccination being the cause of this diagnosis.

3. How many documented cases of Guillain-Barré Syndrome are recorded as the Covid vaccination being the cause of this diagnosis.

4. What is the total figure documented/recorded of vaccine injuries caused by Covid vaccination.

5. Are the documented/recorded deaths/vaccine injuries caused by Covid vaccines the highest ever recorded vaccine related deaths/injuries.

We said

Thank you for your enquiry.

Deaths due to adverse effects of the COVID-19 vaccination

We hold the following analysis in our Monthly mortality analysis, England and Wales publication.

Table 13 of this publication provides number of deaths involving COVID-19 vaccines causing adverse effects in therapeutic use by age group for deaths registered in March 2020 to June 2022.

For further information please contact Health.Data@ons.gov.uk

Injuries due to adverse effects of the COVID-19 vaccination

ONS do not hold data regarding adverse reactions to the COVID-19 vaccination that do not result in death. ; therefore, we consider this information not held.  

The Medicines and Healthcare Regulatory Authority's (MHRA) role is to continually monitor the safety of any medicine or vaccine once they are approved for use. Yellow Card is a website where any member of the public or health professional can report any suspected side effect. This includes deaths, which are reported by others on behalf of the deceased person. As the information is self-reported, it means that the suspected side effects are not always proven and some of the side effects may have occurred regardless of the vaccine. MHRA are better placed to answer your enquiry, as they are responsible for the Yellow Card Scheme. They can be contacted using this form  or by email on info@mhra.gov.uk

More information regarding the difference in ONS data to Yellow Card scheme data can be found in this blog. How many people have died as a result of a COVID-19 vaccine? | National Statistical (ons.gov.uk)

Cardiomyopathy and Guillain-Barré Syndrome cases

We do not hold data on incidence of cardiomyopathy or Guillain-Barré Syndrome after administration of  of the COVID-19 vaccination. NHS Digital would be better placed to answer your enquiry. They can be contacted by email on enquiries@nhsdigital.nhs.uk or by telephone 0300 303 5678

COVID-19 Vaccine deaths and injuries in comparison to other vaccination deaths and injuries

ONS 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. The underlying cause of death is defined by WHO as:

a) the disease or injury that initiated the train of events directly leading to death, or

b) the circumstances of the accident or violence that produced the fatal injury

Using the NOMIS webservice, we have attached a spreadsheet titled "Vaccination deaths 2013 to 2021" with annual deaths due to Vaccines (ICD-10 code Y58 to Y59) for 2013-2021 for England, Wales and non-residents.

If you would like to look at lower geography, disaggregate by sex or age bands or look at other information, instructions for NOMIS are below.

• Select the geography (England and Wales, regional or by local authority).  
• Select Age -- All ages or 5-year age bands.  
• Select Gender -- Total or Male/Female  
• Select rates -- All deaths, rates or percentage of population for example.  
• Select cause of death (ICD10 code search is available).  
• Select format (Excel or CSV for example)  

Deaths involving the COVID-19 vaccination are reported in table 12 of our Monthly Mortality Analysis.

From March 2020 to June 2022 there are 45 registered deaths involving adverse effects to the COVID-19 vaccination ,of which 39 are registered as the underlying cause in England. There are no deaths registered for Wales. This is the latest data available; July will be published on 23 August 2022.

As advised above, we do not hold information on adverse reaction to vaccines, the MHRA would be better placed to answer your enquiry.