Covid jab rollout an ‘extraordinary feat’ but those harmed or killed by side-effects were let down, inquiry finds

The Covid-19 vaccination program in England was a ‘success story’, but a study revealed that those harmed by the vaccine were disappointed.

Baroness Heather Hallett, chair of the UK Covid-19 inquiry, described the speed at which vaccines were developed and rolled out as a ‘remarkable achievement’.

But he admitted some people had died or been harmed ‘tragically’ by the vaccine and that the current Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme required ‘urgent reform’ because it was not ‘supportive enough’.

This includes a ‘fairer system for determining payment’ and almost doubling the maximum amount victims or bereaved families can receive from £120,000 to at least £200,000.

The 60 per cent disability threshold for people to be eligible for payments should be removed because it ‘leaves people facing significant injury which affects the way they live but who cannot meet the 60 per cent threshold’, Baroness Hallett’s report concludes.

It is also stated that ministers must take action to ‘rebuild’ public confidence in vaccines, which has diminished due to the spread of misinformation on social media and new vaccines being rolled out at an unprecedented pace.

The 274-page report marks the conclusion of the fourth module of the investigation, which examined how vaccines and drugs are developed, approved and distributed.

The Covid Inquiry, which opens in July 2022, will be one of the longest public inquiries in history. This investigation, which cost £204 million as of the end of last year, became the most expensive investigation, leaving behind the Bloody Sunday investigation.

Today’s report reveals decades of global research and preparation are ‘fundamental’ to the UK’s Covid-19 vaccine response.

This pivotal study, which would normally take 10 to 20 years, allowed the UK to develop the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine and authorize two more vaccines within a year of the first detected case of Covid-19.

Nearly 132 million Covid-19 vaccinations were administered across four countries in 2021, making it the largest vaccination program in UK history.

One study estimates that almost 450,000 lives were saved in the UK alone.

As of June 2022, approximately 87 per cent of the UK population over the age of 12 had been vaccinated with two doses of the vaccine.

The inquiry report emphasizes that ‘it is neither proportionate nor practicable for the inquiry to reach a view on the safety of particular vaccines or causality in particular cases of alleged injury or death, or to attempt to quantify the precise risks of vaccination.’

However, despite the urgency of the task and the speed of development of vaccines, it is stated that the UK government and regulatory bodies “do not compromise on the UK’s strict safety standards”.

Safety concerns were quickly identified and monitored, saving ‘millions’ of lives worldwide.

His colleague Baroness Heather Hallett, a retired Court of Appeal judge who chaired the public inquiry into the Covid-19 outbreak.

It continues: ‘Nevertheless, it is important to acknowledge and accept that in rare or very rare cases vaccines can have serious adverse effects.’

‘The inquiry heard compelling evidence from representatives of vaccine-injured and bereaved Core Participants who often felt silenced or ignored.

‘Nothing said about the rarity of side effects should be taken to diminish the pain and loss of those who have been injured or lost loved ones after receiving the vaccine.’

The Vaccine Injury Payment Scheme was introduced in 1979 and aimed to pay compensation for ‘vaccine damage where vaccination is recommended by a public authority and undertakes to protect the public’.

It is not designed to be compensatory, but to provide financial assistance to those in need.

Entitlement to payment under the scheme depends on it being established that a person has suffered a serious disability of 60 per cent or more and that ‘on the balance of probabilities’ it can be determined that this was caused by the vaccine.

The maximum prize has gradually increased over time and the current £120,000 prize was last revised in 2007.

As of January 2025, 17,519 applications were made regarding Covid-19 vaccines.

A man walks past the entrance to the NHS Covid-19 vaccination center at Westfield Stratford City shopping center in east London in February 2021.

Between 2021 and 2023, approximately 125 applications to the claims plan resulted in payment and 2,266 applications were rejected.

Lawyers told the inquiry the application process was ‘brutal’ and there was a large backlog in assessing claims, with some people waiting up to two years for a decision.

Reacting to the inquiry, Kate Scott, representing the group Vaccine Injury and Bereaved UK (VIBUK), said today: ‘This is an uncomfortable truth, but vaccine injuries and deaths are part of the pandemic story.

‘Today’s recommendations go some way towards recognizing this fact.

‘We welcome this as an important step towards justice for those suffering devastating consequences.’

Vaccine uptake was lower in communities with higher levels of deprivation and in some ethnic minority groups.

The investigation finds that these inequalities are predictable and need to be addressed before the next pandemic.

Baroness Hallett said: ‘Tragically, too many people have been harmed as a result of being vaccinated.

‘This was a small minority compared to the overall scale of the vaccination programme, but was no less important to affected individuals and their families.

‘I have heard compelling evidence that representatives from core groups of vaccine injured and bereaved participants are often silenced, ignored or treated as vaccine deniers.

‘In the context of a population-wide vaccination programme, where the government asks people to get vaccinated partly to protect others, it is vital that people are adequately supported when side effects occur.

‘A sufficiently supportive government scheme must be in place to help such people and their loved ones.

‘I have discovered that the current scheme for those injured as a result of vaccination (the vaccine claims payment scheme) is not supportive enough and requires reform.’

The report also highlights the vital role of drugs.

As of June 2020, the drug Dexamethasone began to be used to save the lives of hospitalized Covid-19 patients, a few hours after the trial results confirmed its effectiveness.

As of March 2021, it is estimated to have saved 22,000 lives in the UK and one million worldwide.

The report makes five recommendations ‘to ensure the UK is better placed to develop and deliver vaccines and treatments in any future outbreak’, including reform of the Vaccine Injury Payment Scheme.

Others include the establishment of a pharmaceutical expert advisory panel to oversee the UK’s preparedness to develop, supply and manufacture vaccines and therapeutics; Producing targeted vaccination strategies and communications to increase vaccine uptake and reduce inequalities.

Baroness Hallett is also calling for improved monitoring and evaluation of vaccine uptake to determine which measures are most effective; and giving regulators better access to patients’ medical records so they can better monitor the safety of new vaccines and drugs.

He said: ‘We don’t know when it will happen, but there will be another outbreak.

‘Taken as a whole, my recommendations should mean that the UK is better prepared for this pandemic.

‘I urge governments across the UK to work individually and collectively to implement these recommendations fully and in a timely manner.’