Call to treat Covid jab victims in same way as those hit by contaminated blood

MPs are demanding action to stop victims of Covid vaccines being sidelined and treated as “collateral damage” by the Government.

They want those whose health has been badly hit to be treated with the “same concern” as those impacted by contaminated blood.

All-Party Parliamentary Group chair Sir Christopher Chope said Covid-19 vaccine victims had “suffered through no fault of their own” after taking a jab in good faith.

Christchurch MP Sir Christopher added: “The Government should be helping and sympathising with those who have done the right thing by being vaccinated against Covid-19 but who have suffered as a result.

“Instead, it is ignoring victims and treating them as collateral damage. It is intolerable that victims feel gaslighted and shameful that they are being deprived of basic care.”

READ MORE: Late Queen honoured in touching tribute at BAFTA TV Awards

The 44-year-old Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme has also come under fire. Maria Caulfield, the health minister who has responsibility for vaccines, will be asked to reform it at the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Covid-19 Vaccine Damage on June 5.

Individuals and families badly injured or bereaved by a vaccine are offered up to £120,000 tax-free.

But The Express told in March how lawyers, families and campaigners blasted the VDPS as “unfit for purpose” due to lengthy delays and an “antiquated and unfair” 60 percent disability threshold.

We launched Justice for Jab Victims in response.

As of April 24, 4,914 VDPS claims had been received by the NHS Business Service Authority with 78 individuals awarded payment. Some 1,404 have been refused a payout.

Ms Caulfield will be asked to “remove many of the VDPS eligibility restrictions for Covid-19 vaccine victims” and raise the £120,000 payment. Other requests include allowing claimants to “have a physical examination”.

Clinics for those with Long Covid are also called for.

Covid vaccines have saved more than 120,000 lives in the UK. Yet several thousand have had adverse reactions.

Dozens of patients and families are taking legal action against AstraZeneca over catastrophic injuries due to blood clotting.

But hundreds, possibly thousands, who cannot pursue such litigation see VDPS as a ­lifeline. However, it is feared many have been deterred from making claims.

A survey for this paper found 283 members of the vaccine-injury support group UK CV Family haven’t made an application as they don’t believe they will meet the 60 percent disability threshold or do not have the energy to make a claim.

Group founder Charlet Crichton told the Daily Express: “They have seen others get rejected and they mentally can’t face being declined.

“Rejection is gaslighting to lots of people. It hits them deeply because they feel like they’re not acknowledged.” Mum Jennifer Gathercole, 38, fears she will not make the 60 percent threshold although her Covid jab has turned her life into “mental torture”.

She developed functional neurological disorder, a condition where the brain does not send or receive messages properly, and non-epileptic attack disorder after her second AstraZeneca vaccine on June 4, 2021.

A letter from Jennifer’s consultant to her GP, seen by the Express, confirms her conditions were “triggered by Covid vaccination”. 

She now suffers up to six seizures a day, along with head pressure, tremors and chronic pain. She has also gone blind in one eye and has been diagnosed with paroxysmal tachycardia, an abnormal heart rhythm.

Some days she can find it hard to walk, talk or eat. Her daughter Megan, 17, helps care for Jennifer.

More than 500 claims from more than 12 months ago are still waiting for the outcome of their application. Some have even waited two years.

The NHSBSA says it has increased its team to over 80.

Father-of-four Simon Clark, who developed debilitating Guillain-Barre syndrome after his AstraZeneca jab in March 2021, has waited for the outcome of his VDPS application for two years. He said: “It’s ridiculous.”

Solicitor Sarah Moore says the UK should look to countries such as Norway where successful claims only require proof of 5 percent disability.

Ms Crichton worries lack of support could be fuelling the rise in vaccine hesitancy, saying: “The Government needs to prove they can look after people who have had adverse reactions and bring it more out into the open.”