The problem with the debate about excess mortality is that it is so polarized, like all corona debates now: not a word can be said without accusing the speaker of deliberately concealing relevant facts. In the case of excess mortality, the assumption of some is, of course, that the vaccinations claim quite a few victims, but that the cabinet and RIVM want to hide that and therefore do not give access to their data.
First and foremost: a great deal of research has been done into excess mortality in the Netherlands and abroad in the past year, which showed no relationship whatsoever with the vaccinations. On the contrary: the protection against death from corona is very high, as everyone in nursing homes can attest, but in the examined period of eight weeks after vaccination the chance of dying from something other than corona also decreases. Vaccination is a good idea, especially for vulnerable people.
However, that does not remove the problem of unexplained excess mortality. The House of Representatives has been wanting to know for months why hundreds more people are still dying every week than in the years before corona, but Minister Kuipers has not yet been able to give a satisfactory answer. Is it a long-term effect of the corona infections? Is it the ailments left untreated in the overcrowded hospitals during the lockdowns that are now taking their toll? Could vaccination play a role in the longer term?
To find out, the data files with the causes of death must be linked to data about who was infected with corona or vaccinated at what time. The RIVM and the GGDs see no possibility for this for fear of violating the privacy rules. The independent researchers who did the research at the request of the House of Representatives are therefore giving up.
Now there is nothing wrong with a very reserved approach to privacy-sensitive data, but in this case it is a matter of making agreements. This research must be easy to do without individual patient data being made public. The public interest is great enough, because this is not an issue that is behind us. In order to make better, reasoned political decisions about lockdowns and vaccination campaigns in the future, it is relevant that all possible implications are known.
For that reason alone, the government and the House of Representatives would do well to push through this investigation, now that the authorities involved apparently feel inhibited. The fact that they thus remove the impression among some that there is something unwelcome to hide, which is a nice bonus.
The position of the newspaper is expressed in the Volkskrant Commentaar. It is created after a discussion between the commentators and the editor-in-chief.