Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many people in the UK have suffered from serious adverse events from covid-19 vaccines as of 11 December 2023.

Reports of suspected adverse reactions are collected by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) via the Yellow Card scheme. Data received through the scheme is published on the Yellow Card website including COVID-19 vaccine reports. MHRA has received over 350,000 spontaneous suspected adverse reaction reports in the United Kingdom for all COVID-19 vaccines; 192,945 of these suspected adverse reaction reports are for COVID-19 Astra Zeneca specifically, up to and including 29 November 2023.

Reporters are asked to submit Yellow Card reports even if they only have a suspicion that the vaccine may have caused the adverse reaction. The existence of an adverse reaction report does not necessarily mean that the vaccine has caused the reaction. It is not possible to compare the safety of different vaccines by comparing the numbers of reports. Reporting rates can be influenced by many factors including the seriousness of the adverse reactions, their ease of recognition and the extent of use of a particular vaccine. Reporting can also be stimulated by promotion and publicity about a product.

Official vaccination data shows that, as of 11 September 2022, an estimated 24.9 million first doses and 24.2 million second doses of the Oxford-Astra Zeneca COVID-19 vaccine had been administered. Official vaccination data is no longer routinely published for all UK nations, with data for first and second doses no longer reported beyond 11 September 2022 as regional data was no longer available. As of 22 February 2023, 60,900 third or booster doses of the Oxford-Astra Zeneca COVID-19 vaccine had been administered.