FOI Reference: FOI/2021/3404
You asked
Reference A shows weekly age-standardised mortality rates by vaccination status relative to the date of death. The currently published data stops at 24 September 2021.
Given extreme public interest in the all-cause mortality rates for vaccinated and unvaccinated populations would you please make available a further release of this data extending beyond 24 September 2021 to as close as practicable to the date of this FOI?
We said
Thank you for your enquiry.
We are responsible for the production of mortality data for England and Wales. This is derived from information collected from death certificates at death registration.
We recently published an update of the requested analysis on 20 December 2021 for deaths involving COVID-19 or all cause deaths after receipt of the COVID-19 vaccination. This analysis includes Deaths by vaccination status, England that occurred between 1 January and 31 October 2021 in England. Please see the following link to view this analysis: https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/deaths/datasets/deathsbyvaccinationstatusengland
An update covering data up to the end of December 2021 will be published on 4 February 2022. As such, information for November and December 2021 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.
If you would like to discuss this data, please contact health.data@ons.gov.uk.