Unexplained deaths in third Covid wave still need solving

National statistics agency CBS and public health institute RIVM say they have not yet been able to establish the reason for the large number of excess deaths during the third coronavirus wave, which are unlikely to be down to the virus. A cause of death analysis puts the coronavirus death toll over 2020 and 2021 at around 40,000, amounting for most of the excess deaths in the first two waves. The research was carried out on the request of MPs, because the number of excess deaths far exceeded the number of people dying from coronavirus in the second half of the year. Of the 166,000 death certificates studied by the researchers, just 162 listed vaccination as a possible contributing factor but they did not go into enough details to allow conclusions to be drawn, the RIVM said.