A number of questions have been submitted to SIR regarding our registration of vaccinations and differences reported between our data and data presented from the Public Health Agency of Sweden (Fohm)
Swedish Intensive Care Register definition
What the intensive care units register and SIR presents is whether a vaccination is given or not. The intensive care units have registered unknown in situations where available data are not available at the time of registration. See picture below.
SIR has had a discussion with Fohm that SIR should switch to their definition regarding "vaccination status" but jointly decided to maintain the definition used when SIR started the registration of vaccinated. There are several arguments why we chose this line.
- It may be better to continue with existing data collection, and leave it the same during the pandemic.
- It is easiest to find data regarding the given syringe or not.
- The time between vaccination and the date of onset does not need to be calculated.
Public Health Agency of Sweden's definition
The Public Health Agency of Sweden has published the report:
Protective effect of covid-19 vaccination in the age groups 65 years and older.
The definition used in the report is:
- Unvaccinated (up to dose one +21 days)
- Vaccinated with dose of +21 days or more (until dose two +14 days)
- Vaccinated with dose two +14 days or more
Fohm also analyzes vaccination breakthroughs and the effect of the vaccination program against Covid-19. Fohm then uses the National Vaccination Register where there is complete information including the date of when each dose is given. In the analysis, Fohm then uses a special definition for breakthrough infections based on when people are expected to have received full protection.
The definition used by Fohm in the production of statistics on breakthrough infections is:
- Unvaccinated – people who were not vaccinated before falling ill or were tested for COVID-19.
- Breakthrough infections – people who were vaccinated with two doses of vaccine, and it was then at least two weeks before the person fell ill or was tested.
In conclusion, however, it is important (as always) to point out that data can be reported in different ways and knowledge of the background is important.