COVID deaths among fully vaccinated rare, ONS data finds
pharmafile | September 15, 2021 | News story | Medical Communications, Research and Development |Â Â Â
New figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show that fully vaccinated people are far less likely to die from COVID-19.
Out of more than 51,000 COVID deaths in England between January and July 2021, only 256 occurred after two doses, and those deaths were mostly people at very high risk from illness from COVID-19.
The new ONS data show that of the 51,281 deaths involving COVID registered in England between 2 January and 2 July 2021:
- 640 (1.2%) were people who had received both vaccine doses
- This total includes people who had been infected before they were vaccinated
- Some 458 deaths (0.8%) were people who died at least 21 days after their second dose
- Just 256 deaths (0.5%) were people who were both fully vaccinated and who had their first positive PCR test at least 14 days after their second dose
Julie Stanborough, from the ONS, said: “Our new analysis shows that, sadly, there have been deaths of people involving Covid-19 despite them being fully vaccinated.
“However, we’ve also found that the risk of a death involving Covid-19 is much lower among people who are fully vaccinated than those who are unvaccinated.”
Among those who died after two doses, 13% were immunocompromised, 61% were male and more than 75% were clinically extremely vulnerable.
Read: Pfizer and AstraZeneca approved as booster COVID vaccines
Breakthrough deaths, occurring at least two weeks after the second jab along with a first positive PCR COVID test, were found to happen most in the most vulnerable, men, and those with weakened immune systems, with the average age being 84.
However, overall breakthrough numbers were very small, accounting for only 0.5% of all deaths from COVID-19 over the first six months of the year.
Kat Jenkins
