The safe and effective narrative has come under challenge here in the UK, with the surge in Covid vax compensation claims, made under the Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme (VDPS), so much so that the Health Secretary has ordered a review of the vaccine compensation scheme. Up to April 26, 11,022 claims have been made to the scheme. Running alongside this, in a court hearing, AstraZeneca admitted for the first time in court documents that its Covid vaccine can cause fatal blood clots and low platelet counts, also known as thrombosis with thrombocytopenia syndrome, or TTS, and the vaccine has now been withdrawn globally: https://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/why-a-popular-covid-19-vaccine-has-been-withdrawn-worldwide/9okw3jkkd. To bad for those who had it trusting their GP.
There is a high threshold to be vax injured under the UK scheme, like parallel schemes across the West, such as in Australia, requiring a 60 percent disability. This is cruel, since even at lower levels people's ability to work and earn a living are compromised. Such is life under the rule of Big Pharma.
"The Health Secretary has ordered a review of the vaccine compensation scheme after a surge in claims following the pandemic, The Telegraph can disclose.
Victoria Atkins has asked officials in her department to draw up options for reforming the Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme (VDPS), which campaigners have said is no longer fit for purpose.
It comes amid concern that the scheme is struggling to cope after becoming overwhelmed by a huge volume of claims from those suffering side-effects after Covid vaccines.
In 2019, 27 claims were made, with that number followed by 26 in 2020 and 41 in 2021. This rose to 480 in 2022 and 4,008 last year, according to figures from the Department of Health.
Separate figures, released under freedom of information requests, reveal that, up to April 26, 11,022 claims have been made to the scheme in connection with Covid vaccines.
In an apparent about-turn earlier this week, AstraZeneca admitted for the first time in court documents that its Covid vaccine can cause a rare side-effect.
The pharmaceutical giant is being sued in a class action over claims that the jab, developed with the University of Oxford, caused death and serious injury in dozens of cases. The Government has indemnified AstraZeneca against any legal action, but has so far refused to intervene.
Conservative MPs have been pressing ministers to reform the VDPS, which they argue does not adequately compensate those who have suffered severe side-effects from Covid vaccines and been left unable to work.
Esther McVey, a minister without portfolio, is understood to be among those pressing Ms Atkins to make changes to the scheme.
The VDPS awards a one-off £120,000 tax-free payment to people who have been severely injured, and to the families of those who have died, as a result of vaccination against certain diseases including Covid. In order to qualify for the payment, individuals have to be deemed 60 per cent disabled.
Sir Jeremy Wright, a former attorney general, has raised concerns about the scheme with Ms Atkins as well as with Rishi Sunak.
He said the Government needed to act "swiftly" to reform the scheme because the class action case against AstraZeneca is "not a good look", adding: "They can't ignore this problem – they have to confront it".