Thousands are seeking compensation for harm allegedly caused by coronavirus vaccines, according to the paper
The Telegraph reports that almost 14,000 people in Britain have applied for government payments for disabilities they claim were caused by Covid-19 vaccines.
The paper stated that only 175 people, or less than 2% of those seeking compensation, have received a one-off payment of £120,000 ($155,300).
Data obtained by The Telegraph through Freedom of Information requests shows that those who were eventually reimbursed suffered from conditions such as stroke, heart attack, dangerous blood clots, inflammation of the spinal cord, excessive swelling of the vaccinated limb, and facial paralysis.
The outlet noted that approximately 97% of the successful applications were related to the Oxford-AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine, developed by Oxford University and British-Swedish company AstraZeneca, with the remaining percentage related to US-made vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna.
The outlet noted that the UK government continues to recommend the AstraZeneca vaccine, despite its use being halted in Germany, Italy, France, and other European countries by March 2021, amid reports of a growing number of blood clotting cases.
Thousands of people have been denied payment due to the government’s medical assessors arguing that there is no concrete evidence that their health problems are a result of the vaccines, the report read.
Hundreds of others were turned down for being “not disabled enough,” it added. Under the rules of the Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme (VDPS), an applicant must be at least 60% disabled to qualify.
An AstraZeneca spokesperson told The Telegraph that its vaccine “has continuously been shown to have an acceptable safety profile and regulators around the world consistently state that the benefits of vaccination outweigh the risks of extremely rare potential side effects.”
Regarding the health complications caused by the vaccine, the spokesperson said, “our sympathy goes out to anyone who has lost loved ones or reported health problems.”
In May, AstraZeneca, which officially admitted that its vaccines could cause blood clots in certain cases, began the withdrawal of its product worldwide, saying that newer vaccines adapted to the latest coronavirus variants were more effective.
Around 16,000 people have sought payments since the introduction of the VDPS in 1979, with most of the claims related to Covid-19 vaccines. The increasing workload resulted in an increase of the staff responsible for handling applications from four people to 80 last year. “We continually review our processes to further develop the way in which we manage claims, and to provide a better service for claimants,” a National Health Service spokesperson said.