FOI REF: FOI/2023/4890
You asked
Please could you provide all the data between May 2022 and January 2023 (inclusive) of the number of deaths, according to COVID-19 vaccination status, in England and Wales.
We said
Thank you for your request.
The Deaths by vaccination status, England analysis looks at deaths involving coronavirus (COVID-19), non-COVID-19 deaths and all deaths by vaccination status, broken down by age group and is produced by the Health Analysis and Pandemic Insight division (HAPI). This data are for England only, as we do not hold vaccination status data for Wales.
The publication was paused to allow the data to be analysed using new Census 2021 data. The previous publications used Census 2011 data. This only covered 79% of the population because the rates were derived for the cohort of people enumerated at 2011 Census who were registered with a GP (General Practitioner) at the beginning of the pandemic and who were alive at the beginning of the month of interest. If we use Census 2021 data, we can be representative of a much larger proportion of the population including people who migrated since the 2011 Census and people too young to be included in the 2011 Census. We are also updating the data pipeline so that we can identify spring and autumn booster doses and include these in our publication.
Our latest publication includes deaths registered in June 2022 to December 2022 data. This publication will also include a back series analysis from April 2021 to May 2022 data using Census 2021 data.
Data for January 2023 will be included in the next update of this dataset. This information is therefore 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. 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.