Vaccine damage scheme admin costs more than double payouts — SkimNews
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- Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme has cost £83m in administration and medical assessments between April 2022 and March 2026, more than double the £31.6m paid to victims so far.
- Medical assessment costs rose from £4.3m in 2022/23 to £19.3m in 2025/26, after an external assessor was previously replaced when its costs hit £48m.
- Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme data show just 264 of 24,260 claims since November 2021 have succeeded, with successful applicants receiving a one-off £120,000 tax-free payment for "severe disablement."
- Taxpayers' Alliance chief executive John O'Connell said the public would be "stunned" that running costs exceeded payouts, and called for ministers to explain why the system is "so expensive."
- Vaccine Injured and Bereaved UK representative Kate Scott, whose husband was left severely disabled by the AstraZeneca vaccine, called the scheme "not fit for purpose" — offering "too little, too late, to too few."
- Baroness Heather Hallett, chair of the Covid public inquiry, recommended increasing the payout and basing it on the degree of injury; the government said it is "carefully considering" the recommendations and will "respond shortly."
Why it matters: With just 264 of 24,260 claims succeeding since November 2021 — roughly a 1% success rate — vaccine-injured claimants remain in limbo while the government stalls on implementing Baroness Hallett's recommendation to reform payouts, even as administrative spending runs more than double the compensation actually paid.
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