The battle over vaccine-damage compensation

A group of 95 people who developed health problems or lost relatives as a result of rare side-effects of the Oxford-AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine say they have been let down by the "out-of-date" government payment scheme.

One woman whose fiancé died after the jab was awarded £120,000 this week.

BBC News has since learned two more people have been told they will receive payments. But many more are still waiting for their cases to be assessed, despite some having final death certificates meaning senior doctors and lawyers have concluded the vaccine caused their loved one's death.

As of May, more than 1,300 claims had been made to the Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme (VDPS) but only 20 referred for medical assessment.

Meanwhile, some fear their genuine but rare cases are being drowned out by a flurry of people making unproven claims about vaccine damage online.

Claire Hibbs was unable to work for a year after developing vaccine-induced immune thrombotic thrombocytopenia (VITT) and struggles with chronic fatigue, migraines and brain fog and fears her job could be at risk - but believes she will not be considered 60% disabled.

Like others in the group, she has been upset by suggestions she might be opposed to vaccines - "it's a pro-vaccination campaign," Ms Moore says.

But Ms Hibbs acknowledges false claims about damage from Covid vaccines have been widely circulated online - and research suggests such claims can increase vaccine hesitancy and put people's lives at risk.

Members of the group, Vaccine, Injured, Bereaved UK (VIB UK) have all received official confirmation of a link to the vaccine. But underneath many of its factual posts, other accounts share reams of false and misleading claims about the vaccine

Read full story

Source: BBC News, 23 June 2022