In the United Kingdom (UK), about 14,000 people have applied for government compensation. People alleged that they have suffered losses due to getting the COVID-19 vaccine. According to a report by The Telegraph, some people had claimed side effects of the COVID-19 vaccine earlier. They talked about heart attacks and swelling in the spinal cord, after which the government compensated them.
A scheme called VDPS, i.e. Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme was started in the United Kingdom in 1979. Under this, a provision exists to compensate people if they experience side effects after getting the vaccine. In the last few years, 16,000 applications have been made, most related to COVID-19 vaccines. However, the application of many people was rejected because they were not fulfilling the criteria required for the scheme.
How Much Money Is Received
Under this scheme, those who are eligible are given Rs 1,30,27,665. According to the report, the government has approved payment in only 175 cases, less than 2 percent of the total applications received. More than 5,500 applications have been rejected in this scheme. 519 applications were rejected even before reaching the investigation. Only those people get the benefit of this scheme, who are at least 60 percent disabled.
Questions Are Also Being Raised On The Government
The government is also raising questions regarding the vaccine’s side effects. Countries like Germany, Italy, France, and Spain banned the AstraZeneca vaccine, but the UK government continued recommending it. However, AstraZeneca was given legal protection at the beginning of the pandemic, so even if someone wins a case against the company, the company will not pay the bill.
