Freedom of Information request on The number of persons in the UK who had a first dose of any vaccine broken down by month and by decade of ages (FOI 22/466 )
Published 1 June 2022
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FOI 22/466
14th March 2022
Dear
Thank you for your email dated 15th February 2022 where you requested the following:
• The number of persons in the UK who had a first dose of any vaccine broken down by month and by decade of age
• The number of incidences of TTS (thrombosis and thrombocytopenia syndrome) (or vaccine induced thrombocytic thrombocytopenia – VITT) following first does of any vaccine broken down by month and by decade of age
To answer your first request, unfortunately the MHRA does not hold information pertaining to the number of doses of COVID-19 vaccines given to people in the UK. This information is held by the Office of National Statistics (ONS) and the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), and I would therefore suggest you request this information from them directly.
In response to your second request, you may be interested to know that since the launch of the COVID-19 immunisation campaign the MHRA has published a weekly report covering adverse reactions to approved COVID-19 vaccines, which includes details on thrombo-embolic events with concurrent thrombocytopenia on our website at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-vaccine-adverse-reactions/coronavirus-vaccine-summary-of-yellow-card-reporting.
Vaccination and surveillance of large populations means that, by chance, some people will experience and report a new illness or event in the days and weeks after vaccination. A high proportion of people vaccinated early in the vaccination campaign were very elderly, many of whom had pre-existing medical conditions. Older age and chronic underlying illnesses make it more likely that coincidental adverse events will occur, especially given the millions of people vaccinated. It is therefore important that we carefully review these reports to distinguish possible side effects from illness that would have occurred irrespective of vaccination.
It is important to note that a report of a suspected ADR to the Yellow Card scheme does not necessarily mean that it was caused by the vaccine, only that the reporter has a suspicion it may have. Underlying or previously undiagnosed illness unrelated to vaccination can also be factors in such reports. The relative number and nature of reports should therefore not be used to compare the safety of the different vaccines.
I hope the information provided is helpful, but if you are dissatisfied with the handling of your request, you have the right to ask for an internal review. Internal review requests should be submitted within two months of the date of this response; and can be addressed to this email address.
Yours Sincerely,
FOI Team,
Vigilance and Risk Management of Medicines Division
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