Social media users have shared a message making the false claim that COVID-19 is a smokescreen for deaths in the UK. The 933-word message was first shared on 30 December 2020 and reads: ‘I can now confirm that official data shows that the first and second waves of suspected deaths in Covid are in line with the rollout of this year’s WHO-approved flu vaccines . ‘
It now links ‘the death rate following the initial exclusion of 23/03/2020’ with ‘the incidence of adverse events of 14 million vaccinations during the first 12 weeks of the year’. The report added: ‘The more people take the vaccine each week, the more people die and are falsely recorded as Covid deaths, which actually started in January and not in March, according to official data. In other words, they began to falsify the cause of death as the Covid began in the same month that the first round of flu shots began. ”(Here)
However, the flu vaccine reduces the death rate from flu and there is no causal link between the flu vaccine and COVID-19.
In the first place, the status incorrectly aligns the timeline of flu vaccinations with the COVID-19 pandemic. It is true that approximately 14 million people were vaccinated against influenza in the winter season 2019-20 (here, pages 57 and 60), but this did not happen in the first 12 weeks of 2020. Vaccinations for the flu season 2019/2020 start in October 2019, as reported by BBC News here.
It is unclear when the flu vaccines for the season ended, but weekly statistics on flu vaccinations were published by the UK government until 26 January 2020 (here, see the latest vaccination data here, turn to 2.6) and a report that the Infections over the flu season contain data on influenza vaccines administered until 28 February 2020 (here, page 55).
In contrast, the first cases of coronavirus in the UK were recorded at the end of January 2020 (here, page 6), and Reuters reported the first death due to COVID-19 in Britain on March 5 (here), months after the vaccination of flu started in October 2019.
Second, there is no evidence that flu vaccines have led to increased mortality. A government report published in June 2020 stated that the highest flu hospitalization rates were similar or lower than in previous flu seasons in 2018/2019 and 2017/2018 (here, page 5). Excess mortality from all causes was seen at the beginning of the flu season in Britain due to the high circulation of flu, and again towards the end of the season due to COVID-19 (page 67). None of these deaths were due to the flu vaccine and there is no evidence that it is harmful.
The Oxford University Vaccine Knowledge Project states: “the inactivated flu vaccine does not contain live flu viruses and can not give you flu.” It also contains details on the different types of inactivated flu vaccines offered in the UK for the 2020/2021 flu season (here). The NHS also outlines the safety of the flu vaccine (here).
COVID-19, meanwhile, is a real disease that is still causing deaths. Figures from the UK government using the data on 5 January 2021 show that 4,738 people have died from a positive coronavirus test within 28 days in the last seven days, and 17 175 patients have been admitted to hospital with COVID-19. Reuters reported on December 3 that the UK’s COVID-19 deaths had exceeded 60,000 (here).
VERDICT
Untrue. The COVID-19 pandemic is not a cover to cover up deaths due to flu vaccine. The flu shot is safe and was given to 14 million people in the UK during the 2019/2020 season.
This article was produced by the Reuters Fact Check team. Read more about our fact-checking work here.