evidence: Days after the analysis was published — amid backlash from scientists, some of whom resigned from editorial roles with the publication — the journal issued a June 28 statement noting that there were "significant concerns" with the paper and that its assertion that the deaths were linked to vaccination "is incorrect and distorted." "The data has been misused because it makes the (incorrect) assumption that all deaths occurring post vaccination are caused by vaccination," Katie Ewer, an immunologist at the University of Oxford, told Science in an email. "[And] it is now being used by anti-vaxxers and COVID-19-deniers as evidence that COVID-19 vaccines are not safe. [This] is grossly irresponsible, particularly for a journal specialising in vaccines." [...] "As clearly stated on our website, but not taken [into] account in the method applied in this article, death after vaccination does not imply that the adverse event is indeed the actual cause of death," he said. "Existing health problems turned out to be the most obvious explanation for the fatal outcomes in the majority of cases. In a limited number of reports, adverse events following immunisation, known to be associated with the COVID vaccines (e.g. fever, nausea or malaise), may have contributed to the worsening of an already fragile health condition or an underlying medical condition. Suggesting all reports with a fatal outcome to be causally related is far from truth."