Scottish Health to Stop Publishing COVID-19 Deaths By Vaccine Status to Prevent Data Misinterpretation

Vaccinator Rosie Buchanan prepares a vial of the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine at the COVID-19 vaccination centre at Dundonald Hospital in Belfast, Northern Ireland, on Dec 14, 2021. Liam McBurney/PA Media

Last week, Public Health Scotland announced that it going to hide its public weekly data on COVID-19 cases.

Since July 2021, Public Health Scotland (PHS) has reported COVID-19 cases, hospitalisations, and deaths by vaccination status in the weekly COVID-19 statistical report.

Inappropriate Use

PHS stated that the data in the report should not be used as a measure of vaccine effectiveness and added that it “is aware of inappropriate use and misinterpretation of the data when taken in isolation without fully understanding the limitations described below.”