No, study didn't blame COVID-19 vaccines for excess pandemic deaths | Fact check

The claim: A study identified COVID-19 vaccines as a cause of excess deaths

A June 5 Facebook post (direct link, archive link) claims a new study has revealed alarming news about the COVID-19 vaccines.

“New study: 'Excess deaths' linked to COVID-19 vaccines in the West,” reads the post, which includes a link to an article from the website Right Side Broadcasting Network making the claim.

The post was shared more than 90 times in six days. Similar claims circulated on Facebook and X, formerly Twitter.

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Our rating: False

The study cited in the post does not conclude COVID-19 vaccines were linked to the excess deaths. It encouraged further studies to identify the causes.

Excess deaths remain high with no cause identified

The study referenced in the post and article was published June 3 in BMJ Public Health, a publication of the British Medical Journal. In it, researchers from the Netherlands stated that excess mortality in Western nations remained high from 2020 to 2022, even after the adoption of preventative measures and vaccines to slow or stop the spread of COVID-19.

While noting the correlation, the study was explicit in its conclusion – and the British Medical Journal reiterated in a follow-up statement – that the research did not identify a cause of the excess deaths.

“Excess mortality has remained high in the Western World for three consecutive years, despite the implementation of containment measures and COVID-19 vaccines,” the study’s conclusion reads. “This raises serious concerns. Government leaders and policymakers need to thoroughly investigate underlying causes of persistent excess mortality.”

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As the misrepresentation of the report spread, the British Medical Journal released a statement further stressing that researchers didn't identify a cause for the excess deaths.

“The researchers looked only at trends in excess mortality over time, not its causes,” the statement said in part. “While the researchers recognize that side effects are reported after vaccination, the research does not support the claim that vaccines are a major contributory factor to excess deaths since the start of the pandemic. Vaccines have, in fact, been instrumental in reducing the severe illness and death associated with COVID-19 infection.”

The statement also notes that different methods of data reporting and varying data quality from nation to nation further complicate identifying causal relationships.

USA TODAY has previously debunked multiple claims that misrepresent data around excess deaths during the COVID-19 pandemic, with social media users blaming the COVID-19 vaccines instead of the illness itself.

USA TODAY reached out to the Facebook users who shared the claim for comment but did not immediately receive responses.

Our fact-check sources:

• BMJ Public Health, June 3, Excess mortality across countries in the Western World since the COVID-19 pandemic: ‘Our World in Data’ estimates of January 2020 to December 2022

• British Medical Journal, accessed June 7, Statement in response to misreporting of BMJ Public Health research on excess deaths since the COVID-19 pandemic

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Study did not link excess deaths to COVID-19 vaccines | Fact check