FOI Reference: FOI/2022/4399
You asked
Please advise the total number of people, of all ages, who have died following receipt of the COVID-19 vaccinations, since its rollout on 8 December 2020 up to the present date.
We said
Thank you for your enquiry.
We are responsible for the production of mortality data in England and Wales, this is driven by information collected from the death certificates at death registration. National Records Scotland (NRS) and Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA) are responsible for statistics pertaining to Scotland and Northern Ireland. They can be contacted at foi@nrscotland.gov.uk and info@nisra.gov.uk respectively.
We hold the following analysis Deaths involving COVID-19 by vaccination status, England - Office for National Statistics which is the latest available data.
Table 3 of this publication shows deaths and mortality rates by vaccination status for deaths for all causes, non-COVID-19 deaths, and COVID-19 deaths from January 2021 to 31 May 2022. This data is arranged into the following categories:
- Unvaccinated
- First dose less than 21 days ago
- First dose at least 21 days ago
- Second dose less than 21 days ago
- Second dose between 21 days and 6 months ago
- Second dose at least 6 months ago
- Third dose or booster less than 21 days ago
- Third dose at least 21 days ago
- Ever vaccinated
In the "ever vaccinated" category, there have been 531,118 deaths since January 2021 to 31 May 2022 in England. Please note, this publication does not include deaths attributed to the COVID-19 vaccination.
This publication will be updated with further information in October 2022. The specific publication date will be announced on our Release Calendar. Therefore, this information is 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 find this blog post ONS blog on Covid-19 mortality statistic reporting helpful in providing clarity on our Covid-19 mortality reporting.