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  • 2021-03-01 (xsd:date)
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  • Social media posts mislead on UK's Covid-19 vaccination data (en)
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  • Multiple Facebook posts shared hundreds of times claim the British government blocked the UK’s Office for National Statistics from releasing data on deaths related to Covid-19 vaccinations. The claim, however, is missing context: the ONS is not the agency that maintains or publishes statistics on adverse effects related to Covid-19 vaccines. UK health officials told AFP the claim in the Facebook posts is completely inaccurate. The claim was posted by a New Zealand-based Facebook user here on February 16, 2021. The post contains a screenshot showing a tweet published in January 2021 by a UK-based Twitter user here . The post's caption reads: The Government have blocked Office of National Statistics [sic] from issuing data on how many people have died after receiving vaccination and how many have had side effects following vaccination. Think it’s about the virus? think again... A screenshot of the post, taken February 24, 2020. The Office of National Statistics is a reference to the Office for National Statistics (ONS) , the UK government’s official statistical institute. The image of the tweet was also shared hundreds of times on Facebook here , here , here and here alongside a similar claim. The claim, however, is missing context. The UK's Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency -- not the ONS -- is responsible for publishing data on adverse reactions to Covid-19 vaccinations, the UK’s Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) told AFP. The ONS wouldn’t publish that data because it’s published by the regulator the MHRA, a spokesperson told AFP by email on February 23. They added that the claim made in the tweet is completely inaccurate. The MHRA , which regulates medicine and medical devices in the UK, publishes publicly available reports here on adverse reactions to Covid-19 vaccinations. The reports use data collected by the Yellow Card System , which allows patients who receive vaccines and doctors who administer them to report suspected side effects. As of February 24, 2021, the MHRA’s latest report , which analyzes tens of thousands of Yellow Cards submitted from December 9, 2020 to February 7, 2021, notes there have been over 300 deaths that occurred following Covid-19 vaccinations. The report also added, however, review of individual reports and patterns of reporting does not suggest the vaccine played a role in the death[s] and stated the deaths consisted mostly in the elderly. (en)
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