The number of people dying from COVID-19 virus.
Details
31 January 2022
Dear
ATISN 16006 – COVID deaths
Thank you for your request to the Welsh Government for information under the Freedom of Information Act (2000) received on 23 January 2022. You asked the following questions:
A) How many deaths from COVID-19, involving patients with co-morbidities, were there in the following years in Wales:
A1) 2020; A2) 2021; A3) 2022 (to date)
A4) Please give the deaths broken down into ages from 0 years upwards for each of the above years.
B) How many deaths from COVID-19, involving patients with no Co-Morbidities, in the years stated above, across Wales?
B1) Please give the number of those deaths, broken down into ages from 0 years upwards, for each of the above years.
For questions A and B I can confirm Welsh Government does not hold the source information requested. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) collect and produce the most comprehensive mortality statistics for England and Wales based on information collected during the death registration process. Some of your questions can be answered by their publications:
As part of their monthly mortality statistics ONS publish information on the number of pre-existing conditions of people who died due to COVID-19 (i.e. where COVID-19 was identified as the underlying (main) cause on the death certificate). Although data on deaths due to COVID-19 with no co-morbidities is available in this release, we would advise caution in interpreting the data. Medical practitioners certify the causes of a death to the best of their knowledge of the patient. They can list all causes in the chain of events that led to the death and pre-existing conditions that may have contributed to all deaths. The ONS have also published a blog outlining that interpreting deaths due to COVID-19 with no pre-existing conditions is misleading. For further information on this data, please contact the ONS at health.data@ons.gov.uk.
C) Please tell me what all the ingredients are in each of the vaccines (Pfiezer, Astra Zeneca, Johnson & Johnson and Moderna) that have and are currently being given to the public in Wales.
On Question C, the full list of excipients can be found in the summary of product characteristics (SPC) for each of the COVID-19 vaccinations authorised by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) and in use in the UK.
Details of the active ingredient(s) can be found in part 2 of the SPC “Qualitative and quantitative composition” with details of additional excipients in part 6 “Pharmaceutical particulars”.
The SPCs for each vaccine can be accessed at the following links:
Summary of Product Characteristics for Spikevax (on GOV.UK)
Next steps
If you are dissatisfied with the Welsh Government’s handling of your request, you can ask for an internal review within 40 working days of the date of this response. Requests for an internal review should be addressed to the Welsh Government’s Freedom of Information Officer at:
Information Rights Unit
Welsh Government
Cathays Park
Cardiff
CF10 3NQ
or Email: Freedom.ofinformation@gov.wales
Please remember to quote the ATISN reference number above.
You also have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner. The Information Commissioner can be contacted at:
Information Commissioner’s Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF
However, please note that the Commissioner will not normally investigate a complaint until it has been through our own internal review process.
Yours sincerely,