evidence: While vaccination carries some risks, these need to be assessed in light of the benefits of vaccination. The risk of death is greatly increased following a positive test for COVID-19 even in young people, and many studies show that vaccines are highly effective at preventing hospitalisation or death following COVID-19 infection. A positive SARS-CoV-2 test was associated with increased cardiac and all-cause deaths; the risk was higher in those who were unvaccinated at time of testing than in those who were vaccinated. [...] While these rates are adjusted for age, they are not the same as vaccine effectiveness. Vaccinated and unvaccinated people likely differ in characteristics other than age, such as health. Some deaths are expected in vaccinated people as the number who are vaccinated is high and no vaccine is 100% effective. [...] Children aged 5 to 11 years were most likely to be unvaccinated (89.4%) and adults aged 80 years and over (3.6%) were least likely to be unvaccinated. Vaccinations for those aged 5 to 11 years who are not in a clinical risk group are optional, whereas they were recommended for other groups.