The Swedish Public Health Agency has misled the public about the benefits of vaccination against Covid-19 by recording Covid-19 deaths amongst the vaccinated as unvaccinated. Over 900 deaths with Covid-19 have been misrepresented as occurring in the unvaccinated, thereby greatly distorting the effectiveness of the vaccination programme, for which the Swedish Public Health Agency is responsible. We demand that the original data relating to this case be reported in full. We also demand that independent and fully transparent evaluation is conducted for mortality rates among the fully unvaccinated versus different subgroups of the vaccinated.

The Swedish Public Health Agency’s weekly report counts people as unvaccinated up to 14 days after receiving a second dose. This introduces a bias into the reporting of deaths with Covid-19, according to vaccination status. What this shift means is not reported by the Agency and a false picture is presented to the media and to the Swedish public. For some reason, this does not seem to concern the Agency. For example, when journalist Per Shapiro asked the following pertinent question to the Swedish Public Health Agency’s press conference on 27th January 2022: ”So why are you blurring the real control group and when are you going to report on how the unvaccinated have actually fared compared to the others?” Britta Björkholm replied, ”I don’t know what to say. We have a lot of data, we have a lot of figures, we follow up in many different ways. I think we are transparent and report what is relevant”1.

We have requested data from the Swedish Public Health Agency on the number of deaths from Covid-19 infection in 2021, when vaccination was implemented. For four groups: 1) completely unvaccinated, 2) partially vaccinated: those who had received dose 1 and less than 21 days had passed, 3) partially vaccinated: either at least 21 days had passed after dose 1 but dose 2 has not been administrated or dose 2 had been given but less than 14 days had passed and 4) fully vaccinated: dose 2 or 3 had been given, and at least 14 days had passed after dose 2.

The results are shown in the following table. In its weekly reporting, the Swedish Public Health Agency transferred deaths in the partially vaccinated (group 2 = 666 and group 3 = 253) to the unvaccinated group. This skewed the number of deaths in the unvaccinated group by 919 persons, or 32%. Instead, these deaths should have been counted in vaccinated group, which thus increases by 919 persons or 135%.

The following chart shows a comparison the data provided by the Agency in its latest weekly report on the number of deaths in the unvaccinated group with the data we received 2.

Footnote: The weekly report figure for January 2021 is different, because it includes people who had a confirmed Covid-19-infection before 1st January 2021. Therefore, we have used the total number of people who died in January 2021 and who were confirmed to have Covid-19 infection from 1st January of that year, i.e. the data we received from the Swedish Public Health Agency. According to the weekly report, no vaccinated person died in January 2021 (which means that no fully vaccinated person died).

A reanalysis statistics according to the categories defined above, raise the possibility of an increased mortality rate (deaths per 100,000) from Covid-19-infection in the first 21 days after dose 1, compared to the unvaccinated. Hence, during 2021, a total of 666 people have died in this 21-day period. This high mortality following the administration of the Covid-19 vaccines may have several causes. The vaccination program was carried out in the midst of a major outbreak, which does not normally happen. For example, the seasonal influenza vaccine is given before the infection enters a country. There is also evidence in preprint studies that Covid-19 vaccines may increase mortality from Covid-19 in the first period after injection., Several explanations for susceptibility to infection after Covid-19 vaccination have been proposed, including a decline in lymphocytes in the days following administration of both Pfizer’ and AstraZeneca’ vaccines 5. The ensuing immunosuppression could result in the resources of the immune system being ”stretched” and insufficient to deal with another infection.

We propose that in order to properly evaluate the effects of Covid-19 vaccination, all injected persons must be considered as vaccinated, though not necessarily immune. Although significant antibody-mediated immunity does not occur until 21 days after dose 1 or 14 days after dose 2, when evaluating vaccine efficacy, mortality rates during these time intervals must also be considered. If the mortality rate is higher during periods before the vaccine has had time to generate immunity, compared to the mortality rate for unvaccinated persons, then the protective effect is negative rather then positive.3 4.

In order for individuals to make an informed decision about the risks and benefits of Covid-19 vaccination, we request that the Swedish Public Health Agency reports publicly on the raw data on mortality rates for completely unvaccinated persons as well as those vaccinated from the day they received dose 1. Mortality for these groups and specific subgroups of the vaccinated group should also be calculated for those who have received: 1) dose 1 and less than 21 days had elapsed, 2) dose 1 and at least 21 days had elapsed but dose 2 had not yet been given, 3) dose 2 and less than 14 days had elapsed, 4) those who have received dose 2 and at least 14 days had elapsed, 5) dose 3 and less than 14 days had elapsed, and 6) dose 3 and at least 14 days had elapsed.

 

Nils Littorin, MD, Senior House Officer in Psychiatry, PhD in Clinical Microbiology

Anette Stahel, MSc in Biomedicine

Ann-Cathrin Engwall, Immunologist and Virologist, PhD in Molecular Cell Biology with an Immunological Focus

Ragnar Hultborn, MD, Specialist in Oncology, Professor Emeritus

Sture Blomberg, MD, Specialist in Gynaecology and Anaesthesia and Intensive Care Unit, Associate Professor

Lilian Weiss, MD, Specialist in General Surgery, Associate Professor

Niklas Lundström, Associate Professor in Mathematics

Boris Klanger, MD, Specialist in General Medicine, Director of Operations

Dinu Dusceac, MD, Specialist in Cardiology, PhD

Susanna Hartmann-Petersen, MD, Specialist in Dermatology, PhD

Bo Jonsson, MD, Specialist in General Psychiatry, PhD

Anna Maria Wiedemann, MD, specialist in general medicine, PhD

Roger Nilson, MD, specialist in orthopaedics and addiction medicine

Anne Liljedahl, MD, Specialist in General Medicine and Emergency Medicine

Ludwig Hellmundt, MD, Specialist in Anaesthesia, Pain Physician

Nina Yderberg, MD, Specialist in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry

Hanna Åsberg, MD, Specialist in General Medicine

Constanze Pilgram, MD, Specialist in Orthopaedics

Carina Ljungfelt, MD, Specialist in General Medicine

Ute Krüger, MD, Specialist in Pathology

Karin Olsson Vallander, MD, Specialist in Ophthalmology

Ida Höglund, MD, Specialist in Surgery

Lisa Palmlöf, MD, Specialist in Rehabilitation Medicine

Delia Slotte, MD, Specialist in Psychiatry

Margareta Andersson, MD, Specialist in General Medicine

Magnus Burling, MD, Specialist in General Medicine

Sara Mattson, MD, Specialist in General Medicine

Arnaldo Kaminer, MD, Senior House Officer in Psychiatry

Johan Wadenbäck, PhD in Biology with Specialisation in Biotechnology & Genetics