Chief Medical Officer COVID-19 vaccinations: FOI release

Information requested

1. Does gregor: smith: doing business as GREGOR SMITH acting as Chief Medical Officer for SCOTLAND for the DEPARTMENT-OF-HEALTH-AND-SOCIAL-CARE have / hold evidence to prove the public claim that “We now have multiple safe and effective vaccines*.
2. As gregor: smith: living man, acting as Chief Medical Officer for SCOTLAND was co-author of the Technical Report on the Covid-19 pandemic in the UK**, does he concur with the statement made by the Chief Medical Officer christopher john macrae: whitty: living man acting as Chief Medical Officer for DEPARTMENT-OF-HEALTH-AND-SOCIAL-CARE that “Britain will face a 'prolonged period' of excess deaths due to the pandemic, but not from coronavirus itself?”**;
3. Does gregor: smith: living man doing business as GREGOR SMITH acting as Chief Medical Officer for SCOTLAND and/or public servants and/or agents for the DEPARTMENT-OF-HEALTH-SCOTLAND hold a quantitative risk assessment data and report which demonstrates that the excess deaths and MHRA Yellow Card Vaccine Adverse Reaction reports are NOT the results of vaccine adverse reaction(s) and /or effects exist?
4. Is there a working definition ***for the word “effective” regarding COVID-19 “vaccines” / gene therapies / jabs / boosters that was used / deployed by gregor: smith: man doing business as GREGOR SMITH acting as Chief Medical Officer for SCOTLAND and/or public servants and/or agents for the DEPARTMENT-OF-HEALTH-SCOTLAND regarding COVID-19 “vaccines” / gene therapies / jabs / boosters and / or the COVID-19 “vaccines” / gene therapies / jabs / boosters deployment including, but not limited to advertising campaigns.
5. As the Supreme Court of the United States decided that vaccine manufacturers would be exempt from strict liability as vaccines are "unavoidably unsafe products” in Bruesewitz versus Wyeth 2010**, is there a working definition*** for the word “safe” regarding COVID-19 “vaccines” / gene therapies / jabs / boosters that was used / deployed by gregor: smith: man doing business as GREGOR SMITH acting as Chief Medical Officer for SCOTLAND and/or public servants and/or agents for the DEPARTMENT-OF-HEALTH-SCOTLAND regarding COVID-19 “vaccines” / gene therapies / jabs / boosters and / or the COVID-19 “vaccines” / gene therapies / jabs / boosters deployment including, but not limited to advertising campaigns.

Response

Firstly, you may find it helpful to note that while Dr Gregor Smith is based in the Scottish Government and is supported by Scottish Government civil servants, ‘The Chief Medical Officer of the Scottish Administration’ is designated (at Part 2 of Schedule 1 of FOISA) as a wholly separate public authority from the Scottish Government (‘The Scottish Ministers’ are designated at Part 1 of Schedule 1). Some of the information within the scope of your request may be held by the Scottish Government or elsewhere, rather than by the office of the Chief Medical Officer. Therefore there may be elements of this request to which we cannot respond. Where this is the case, we have suggested alternative points of contact. It should also be noted that requests for information submitted under FOISA cannot be transferred from one authority to another, therefore we cannot ask the Scottish Government, on your behalf, to respond.

Question 1

No.

On this occasion notice is given that the information sought is not held by the Chief Medical Officer for Scotland, therefore Section 17 FOISA applies. This exemption is not subject to the public interest test. Any evidence held is reserved to the UK Government and the MHRA as it relates to the safety of vaccines which is determined by the licensing process.

I have noted their contact details below should you wish to raise this query with them directly.

UK Government

MHRA

Question 2

It may be helpful if I explain that the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 gives individuals and organisations the right to access all types of recorded information held, at the time the request is received, by public authorities such as the Chief Medical Officer for Scotland. This right applies to information held and is not a right to create information, or obtain advice, analysis or opinion. I have interpreted this aspect of your request as seeking an opinion therefore I do not consider this element of your request as valid in terms of FOISA.

Question 3

No.

Notice is given that the information sought is not held by the Chief Medical Officer for Scotland, therefore Section 17 FOISA applies. This exemption is not subject to the public interest test.

You might find it helpful to note that the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) is an independent expert advisory committee that advises United Kingdom health departments on immunisation, making recommendations concerning vaccination schedules and vaccine safety. It has a statutory role in England and Wales, and health departments in Scotland and Northern Ireland may choose to accept its advice. I have therefore provided a link to a publicly available statement on the Covid-19 vaccination programme by the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) which may be of interest to you. They are the body to responsible for considering vaccine effectiveness and may hold quantitative risk assessment data reports.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-vaccination-programme-for-2023-jcvi-interim-advice-8-november-2022/jcvi-statement-on-the-covid-19-vaccination-programme-for-2023-8-november-2022

https://www.gov.uk/government/groups/joint-committee-on-vaccination-and-immunisation

JCVI Code of Practice

Question 4 and 5

A working definition for the words “effective” and “safe” is not held by the Chief Medical Officer for Scotland. Therefore Section 17 applies. However any product that is authorised by the MHRA and recommended for use by the JCVI may be accepted for roll out in Scotland as part of the Covid programme. There may be information of interest contained within chapter 14 of the Green book, a link to which I have provided below which is exempt in terms of Section 25 – otherwise accessible – neither of which are subject to public interest test.

COVID-19 Green Book chapter 14a (publishing.service.gov.uk)

About FOI

The Scottish Government is committed to publishing all information released in response to Freedom of Information requests. View all FOI responses at http://www.gov.scot/foi-responses.