Original article (in Slovenian) was published on 20/01/2022
Slovenian National Institute of Public Health (NIJZ) is still preparing an analysis on the number of deaths from COVID-19 among the vaccinated.
Speaking to TV Slovenija on 29 December, the Prime Minister Janez Janša claimed that “billions have been vaccinated around the world, in Slovenia the number is close to one and a half million.”
According to Our World in Data, 3.79 billion people worldwide were fully vaccinated on 29 December, or 48.07% of the world’s population.
On the same day, based on the National Institute of Public Health (NIJZ) data, 1,188,823 people in Slovenia were fully vaccinated, 311,177 fewer than Janša claimed.
The claim that billions of people worldwide have been vaccinated is true. However, the part of the statement in which Janša claimed that almost one and a half million people in Slovenia have been vaccinated is false.
In the interview, the Prime Minister also said that “over 6,000 people have died in Slovenia,” and nearly all of them were unvaccinated.
According to COVID-19 Sledilnik (COVID-19 Tracker Slovenia), 5,576 people had died from COVID-19 until 29 December last year, 424 fewer than Janša claimed. The figure provided by COVID-19 Sledilnik is based on government data which is in turn based on reports from hospitals and care homes.
But these are not the only available data on deaths from COVID-19. According to NIJZ, which collects data from the central registry of patients and the communicable diseases register, 6,102 deaths were recorded in the same period. As explained by COVID-19 Sledilnik last year, “neither of the two reported figures is ‘right’ and neither is complete — but both together provide better insight.”
In addition, in February last year, the Government started to harmonise data from reports on hospital admissions because of COVID-19 and reports from care homes with the NIJZ data on a weekly basis. According to these data, 6,030 people had died until 29 December, 30 more than Janša claimed.
NIJZ told Razkrinkavanje.si that an analysis on the number of deaths from COVID-19 among the vaccinated is under preparation. COVID-19 Sledilnik also explained that as of yet there is no available data on the number of vaccinated people who have died from COVID-19. However, they did say that “based on available information from abroad and the data on hospitalisations in Slovenia, we have no doubt that a very large majority of those who have died were unvaccinated.”
Since the beginning of the pandemic until the start of the vaccination campaign in Slovenia on 27 December 2020, there were 2,573 recorded deaths from COVID-19, 42.6% of the 6,030 people who died from COVID-19 until 29 December 2021. This means that at least 42.6% of those who died were unvaccinated, as they died before the vaccine became available.
The claim that nearly all of those who died were unvaccinated is unfounded, as there is no available data on the share of the vaccinated among the dead.
Vaccine-related deaths
The Prime Minister also said that “we have had one or two deaths as a result of the vaccination and its side effects in one and a half million vaccinated people.”
According to the report on monitoring of adverse effects following vaccination against COVID-19 published by NIJZ in January, there were 40 reports of death among people who received a COVID-19 vaccine in Slovenia between 27 December 2020 and 2 January this year.
The Ministry of Health expert commission established a link to the vaccination in three younger adults vaccinated with Janssen, two of whom died. In 19 cases, the commission concluded that a link to the vaccination was unlikely, and the remaining 19 cases are still under investigation.
Janez Janša’s claim that there were two vaccine-related deaths in Slovenia is true.
The Prime Minister’s Office declined to comment on our questions.
