FOI Reference: FOI/2021/2697
You asked
I would like to make a Freedom of Information request for the following information for the months of April to June 2021.
1) How many people who were hospitalised for covid who had been vaccinated once, twice, or not at all against covid for the same period, including their age and whether they were male or female.
2) A breakdown of how many people died from Covid who had been vaccinated once, twice, or not at all against covid for the same period, including their age and whether they were male or female.
We said
Thank you for your enquiry.
ONS only hold mortality data which are based on the information collected at death registration. All 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.
We do not hold raw data on hospitalisations. For this information please visit the governments COVID-19 dashboard or Public Health England who may be contacted on the following wn_coronavirus@phe.gov.uk.
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.
We are currently working on analysis on all aspects of the relationship between COVID-19 vaccination and mortality, including:
Information regarding deaths after 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.
Therefore, the requested information is exempt under Section 22A (b)(i) and (b)(iii), whereby we have a view to publish this information in the future, and release prior to our planned schedule would prejudice the research programme and the organisation conducting the research. 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, which requires time and space. If this balance is incorrectly applied, then we run the risk of decisions being based on inaccurate data, which is not in the public interest. This will have an impact on public trust in official statistics in a time when the accuracy of official statistics is more important to the public than ever before. This is particularly important given the public health implications of data surrounding the COVID-19 vaccines.
You can also find vaccine statistics for the period December 2020 to July 2021, published by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), here.
If you wish to discuss this further, please contact health.data@ons.gov.uk.