Health Secretary Wes Streeting is looking at changing the law regarding compensation for people harmed by Covid vaccines amid concern it doesn’t offer enough support. The Telegraph has the story.
Wes Streeting has written to the wife of a man left with permanent brain damage after having the AstraZeneca jab, saying he has “commissioned officials to work up a number of options” to reform the current vaccine damage payment scheme (VDPS).
The letter, sent last month and seen by the Telegraph, adds that this could include “potential legislative changes”.
Families of those who suffered rare reactions to the Covid AstraZeneca vaccination have criticised the VDPS for its limited compensation and high threshold for qualification.
It comes ahead of next week’s sitting of the Covid Inquiry, which will hear evidence from a group representing those injured and bereaved after the vaccinations.
Mr. Streeting revealed the work was being done in a letter following a meeting with Kate Scott, whose husband was left with a permanent brain injury after developing a blood clot and bleed on the brain after having the AstraZeneca jab in April 2021.
Mrs Scott said the VDPS needed “urgent reform” because people were being rejected for not being “disabled enough”.
She added: “There is no other word for this than ludicrous. If your injury equates to just a 10% change, that’s life-changing for you. It might mean you can’t work anymore.
“The Government needs to remember that people took the AstraZeneca vaccine for the greater good and because they were told it was safe and effective. They need to make sure families have proper support”.
Currently, the VDPS only offers a one-off tax-free payment of £120,000 to people who have been severely injured if they reach the level of 60% “disablement” – which is what the current scheme requires.
Data obtained under the Freedom of Information Act show that as of October last year, 183 out of 188 payouts made by the Government under the VDPS went to recipients of the AstraZeneca vaccine.
The data also reveal that 391 people injured by Covid vaccines have been denied payments because they did not meet the 60% threshold, even though medical assessors said the harm was linked to the jabs.
Claims for payments under the VDPS scheme are assessed by the General Medical Council – registered doctors with at least five years of experience.
The system they use to determine claims has been described as “archaic” because it is seen as lending itself more easily to quantifying amputations rather than neurological injuries, which can be more complex. It is derived from pre-Second World War industrial injuries and war pension schemes.
Victoria Atkins, the previous Health Secretary, had asked officials to draw up options for reforming the programme, amid a large increase in the number of claims. …
It is understood that the Government is considering setting up a bespoke scheme for those suffering from life-changing conditions as a result of a reaction to the jab, similar to the scheme for victims of the infected blood scandal.
Sir Jeremy Wright, the former Attorney General who is also Mr. and Mrs Scott’s MP, also called on the Government to reform the scheme, saying there was a “moral case” to ensure families had sufficient support.
Sir Jeremy, who has attended meetings with the Health Secretary about the issue, said: “We would be brave to claim that this is the last time the Government is going to ask for mass vaccination to take place. If they want people to carry on coming forward for vaccination – and I am sure they do – then it’s important to make it clear that if you are in the tiny unlucky minority where you are injured by a vaccine, then you will be looked after.
“That’s particularly the case when the Government has put so much into persuading people to have the Covid vaccine, along with the scale of the vaccination programme.”
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