You asked
I would like to request following information please:
- The number of people reportedly harmed after receiving a Covid-19 Vaccination (first or second dose) in UK since the vaccine began to be rolled out, until as recent as possible (from all available vaccines).
- The types of 'harm' endured or reported by individual.
- The number of people whom have died following a Covid-19 Vaccination. Having been vaccinated within 28 days prior to death, whatever the reason given for death.
- Please also release the location/sector details of (5 most common) Covid-19 outbreaks in the community since November 2020. - - Along with the number of infections and deaths per location outbreak i.e. care homes/supermarkets
We said
Thank you for your request.
We are responsible for the provision of mortality statistics for England and Wales. National Records Scotland (NRS) and the 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.
Illness or non-fatal reaction to the COVID-19 vaccine
We are unable to provide figures for those who may have been harmed or suffered illness from a COVID-19 vaccination as this is not recorded on the death certificate.
The number of people whom have died following a Covid-19 Vaccination. Having been vaccinated within 28 days prior to death, whatever the reason given for death.
You can find the number of deaths involving COVID-19 in table 12 of our Monthly Mortality Analysis, these include figures for deaths involving adverse reactions to the COVID-19 vaccination. There are currently 0 deaths registered with the aligning ICD codes for this. However, should this change, they will be updated in this table.
We are currently developing our analytical plans with an intention to publish detailed vaccination statistics soon. Once we have finalised these plans a publication date will be announced on our Release Calendar.
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.
Please also release the location/sector details of (5 most common) Covid-19 outbreaks in the community since November 2020. Along with the number of infections and deaths per location outbreak i.e. care homes/supermarkets
We cannot identify where the vaccine was acquired as this is not supplied on the death certificate, so we are unable to provide this information.
If you would like to discuss your query further, please contact health.data@ons.gov.uk.