FOI Ref: FOI/2021/3067
You asked
Our team have recently been analysing Covid-19 vaccination effectiveness/safety. The following articles, https://probabilityandlaw.blogspot.com/2021/09/all-cause-mortality-rates-in-england.html, is based on the data here: https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/deaths/methodologies/weeklycovid19agestandardisedmortalityratesbyvaccinationstatusenglandmethodology.
The article made clear that a thorough analysis could only be completed if the researchers had access to the age-categorized mortality data by vaccination status per week, i.e. for each week we need to know (for each separate age category) the number of all-cause deaths for each of the vaccination status categories.
In response to the article and my link to it on twitter, an ONS statistician said: "We will try to publish data broken down by age bands but there might be some disclosure issues. We could make the data available for researchers in the secure research service (SRS)".
I would, therefore, be grateful if you could provide this information.
We said
Thank you for your enquiry regarding deaths and the COVID-19 vaccination
We hold the following analysis Deaths involving COVID-19 by vaccination status, England - Office for National Statistics which includes weekly disaggregation of data and ASMR rates in table 1 of the corresponding data set.
Table 3 contains Weekly age-specific mortality rates by vaccination status for deaths involving COVID-19.
Unfortunately, we are not able to disclose the requested data broken down by 10-year age groups for those below 60, as the figures involved would be very small and could therefore allow individuals to be identified. 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. This includes individuals who are deceased. 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.
However, in case it is of interest, you may wish to apply to become an accredited researcher for our Secure Research Service (SRS). This allows those with the appropriate credentials to access further breakdowns of data and conduct their own research. Instructions for applying to this service can be found via the following link: Research Project Accreditation.
For further information on this data set, please feel free to contact Health.Data@ons.gov.uk.