Vaccine damage scheme admin costs double payouts to victims — SkimNews
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- The Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme has spent £83m on administration and medical assessments between April 2022 and March 2026, more than double the £31.6m paid out to victims so far.
- Medical assessment costs for the scheme rose from £4.3m in 2022/23 to £19.3m in 2025/26, and the BBC previously reported a medical assessment firm was replaced after its costs spiralled to £48m.
- Only 264 of 24,260 claims made since November 2021 have been approved, with successful claimants receiving a one-off, tax-free payment of £120,000 for meeting the threshold of "severe disablement."
- The Taxpayers' Alliance said the public would be "stunned" that running costs exceeded payouts, with chief executive John O'Connell calling for an urgent review and cuts to "unnecessary bureaucracy."
- Vaccine Injured and Bereaved UK representative Kate Scott, whose husband was left severely disabled by the AstraZeneca Covid vaccine, called the scheme "not fit for purpose" — "too little, too late, to too few."
- The Covid inquiry, chaired by Baroness Heather Hallett, recommended increasing the payout and basing it on degree of injury; the Department of Health said it is "carefully considering" the recommendations and will respond shortly.
Why it matters: With only about 1% of claims succeeding and a flat £120,000 payout unchanged since the scheme's 1979-era design, severely injured claimants face multi-year waits for modest compensation while administrative costs balloon. The government is now obligated to respond to Baroness Hallett's reform recommendations, which could reshape both payout levels and injury assessment criteria.
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