Call to boost payouts for Covid jab sickness

THE Covid vaccine programme in the UK was an “extraordinary feat” but the payment scheme for people affected by the jabs must be urgently reformed, the inquiry has found.

- BY JANE KIRBY

In her report into the pandemic, chairwoman Baroness Heather Hallett praised the fact the UK was a world leader in biomedical sciences, which set it in good stead for developing and rolling out vaccines at scale.

Significant

However, she said the government must now act urgently to reform the scheme for payments to the “small minority” of people damaged by the vaccines, almost doubling maximum payouts to at least £200,000, from an upper limit of £120,000 at present.

She said the threshold for people to be 60% disabled to receive payment should be scrapped, saying it leaves “those with a significant injury that affects how they live, but doesn’t meet the 60% threshold, with nothing”.

The report added: “This part of the scheme should be reformed as a matter of urgency, and consideration should be given to a graduated threshold scheme.”

Lady Hallett also called for the government to deal with the worldwide problem of vaccine hesitancy.