FOI Ref: FOI/2021/2664
You asked
I wanted to know the figures for (as would appear on the Medical Certificate of Cause of Death) COVID-19 Pneumonitis as 1a.
Between the dates 1 January 2020 and 31 Dec 2020, and 1 January 2021 and 31 May 2021.
How many people have died within 28 days of a Covid-19 vaccination (of any manufacturer) between the dates of 1/11/20-1/6/21?
We said
Thank you for your enquiry.
We hold deaths due to COVID-19 (ICD10 code U07.1). Using the Deaths due to COVID-19, registered in England and Wales: 2020 publication, there were 73,766 deaths registered in England and Wales with COVID-19 as the underlying cause of death in 2020. For 2021, this analysis is available from the Deaths Registered Weekly in England and Wales publication.
From 2 January 2021 to 28 May 2021 (nearest available week ending date) there are 50,273 registered deaths with COVID-19 as the underlying cause of death.
Unfortunately, we do not hold analysis showing deaths involving or due to COVID-19 Pneumonitis. In order to fulfil this request, we would be required to create bespoke analysis. Under the Freedom of Information Act 2000, Public Authorities are not obligated to create information in order to respond to requests. We therefore consider this to be information not held.
However, analysis showing deaths from COVID-19 pneumonitis using ICD10 code U0.71 and J12.89 (viral Pneumonia) may be available to commission as bespoke analysis. Such services would be subject to legal frameworks, disclosure controls, resources and agreement of costs. If you would like to request this bespoke dataset, please contacthealth.data@ons.gov.uk to discuss your enquiry further. Please note, there may be a charge for this work which would be subject to our charging policy.
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.
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.
Once publication dates are finalised, they will be announced on our Release Calendar.
Deaths involving the COVID-19 vaccination
You can find the number of deaths involving COVID-19 (not restricted to first or second vaccination) 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