evidence: There has been widespread speculation about the side-effects of the coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccines, including, tragically, deaths. But how many people have died as a result of a vaccine and why do different sources of data tell a different story? Sarah Caul takes a look at what the data are showing us. [...] The COVID-19 vaccination programme led to a very large number of people receiving vaccinations in a relatively short period. Some people will, sadly, die by chance shortly after receiving a vaccine, so the death can be mistakenly attributed to the COVID-19 vaccination by a family member or carer. In the course of such a large-scale programme, this could add up to a large number. [...] The Yellow Card Scheme data, by contrast, give an important early warning about possible deaths relating to COVID-19 vaccinations, and form a basis for further investigations. However, the numbers don’t show confirmed cases of deaths linked to the vaccines and should not be used for this purpose. Many of these deaths will actually have had other causes, which explains why these numbers are so much higher than the deaths registrations.