The prior report on this topic is here.
Back in 1975 when governments were more cautious than they are today, it took just 2 deaths to get pertussis vaccine pulled from the market in Japan:
But this post is supposed to be about the British, not the Japanese. The Japanese might be more risk-averse than the British, for instance, preferring to act out of an abundance of caution. Another way to put this is that the British authorities may be more willing to gamble with the lives of their own people.
By 1970 in England & Wales, uptake of the pertussis vaccine was holding stable at about 80% (blue line; with scale on the right side):
But when the vaccine-associated-brain-damage situation was debated in British Parliament in March 1977, they discovered really high pertussis death in 1967 — when vaccine uptake was high — and counter-intuitively, they also discovered really low (“provisional”) pertussis death in 1976, when vaccine uptake was low:
Just 3 provisional pertussis deaths when the vaccine uptake had dipped below 50%? The 1967 pertussis death count was almost 10x that of 1976. The 1971 year had peak vaccine uptake, but still had high pertussis death. Here is the vaccine uptake graph with notes added into it:
This counter-intuitive result — where pertussis deaths were 4x higher when vaccine uptake was high — requires explanation by the authorities at large. The evidence suggests that governments have been pandering to drug companies and allowing questionable products to be approved. It gives reason for us to be eternally skeptical.
Reference
[just 2 suspicious deaths can get a vaccine pulled from market in Japan] — https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0264410X03003025?via%3Dihub
[pertussis vaccine uptake in England dipped below 50% by 1976] — Amirthalingam G, Gupta S, Campbell H. Pertussis immunisation and control in England and Wales, 1957 to 2012: a historical review. Euro Surveill. 2013 Sep 19;18(38):20587. doi: 10.2807/1560-7917.es2013.18.38.20587. PMID: 24084340. https://www.eurosurveillance.org/content/10.2807/1560-7917.ES2013.18.38.20587
[March 1977 parliamentary debate reveals just 3 provisional pertussis deaths in 1976] — https://hansard.parliament.uk/commons/1977-03-08/debates/298cd3b2-5050-4e32-817b-a88fba9640b9/Whooping-CoughDeaths