Plan for vaccine-damages scheme stalls despite ‘priority’ pledge

Work on a vaccine-damages compensation scheme has “not progressed” despite the Government previously indicating that the establishment of such a programme would be a priority.

In 2021, Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly ruled out setting up a specific scheme for claims related to the Covid-19 jab but said work on the establishment of a wider compensation scheme was under way. Last summer, the Department of Health said scoping work had been carried out, and Coalition sources said the plan was a “priority”.

However, the Department of Health has now said the plans have not progressed and blamed the deployment of resources on the Covid-19 public health response.

“During the Covid-19 pandemic, all available Department of Health resources were devoted to the public health response. This has meant that work in the area of a vaccine-damage compensation scheme could not be progressed. Further scoping work is required to inform decision-making in this area. This remains under consideration by the Department of Health.”

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[ ‘Significant work’ required to establish vaccination compensation scheme, says Department of Health ]

At least 25 jurisdictions globally have vaccine-injury compensation programmes, 16 of which are in Europe. Most of those schemes cover medical expenses, disability pensions and death benefits, and payments are usually based on the severity of the vaccine injury.

Responding to queries, the department said it and the Health Service Executive worked “continuously to monitor and improve patient safety, reduce incidents of harm and to minimise risk”.

“Vaccines can only be approved and used if they comply with all the requirements of quality, safety and efficacy set out in relevant EU pharmaceutical legislation. Any authorised vaccine will be subject to ongoing monitoring in Ireland by the Health Products Regulatory Authority (HPRA).

“The latest safety updates from the HPRA regarding Covid-19 vaccinations are available on the HPRA’s website.”

In a recent reply to a parliamentary question from Independent TD Catherine Connolly, Mr Donnelly said that “with respect to vaccination, patients concerned with a possible side-effect or adverse reaction following a vaccination should, in the first instance, consult with their medical practitioner who can refer them as necessary to appropriate services following clinical assessment”.

A December 2020 report on the handling of medical negligence claims, produced by an expert group chaired by Mr Justice Charles Meenan, recommended the introduction of an ex-gratia scheme for people who suffered injury arising from vaccination programmes “as a matter of urgency”.

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The Oireachtas parliamentary research service has compiled research into vaccine-injury compensation programmes, and outlined the arguments both in favour and against such schemes.

The research found that the primary argument in favour of vaccine-injury schemes is an ethical one “which contends that because governments urge or indeed require residents to be vaccinated in order to maintain societal herd immunity against diseases, they should protect those who are damaged by these vaccines”.

Arguments against such schemes “relate to the real or potential cost of these programmes to the exchequer, difficulties establishing a causal link between an administered vaccination and an adverse outcome, and concerns that protecting vaccine manufacturers from litigation provides them with a worrying degree of impunity in cases where their product does cause harm”.

However the research said that a review of the jurisdictions where vaccine-injury schemes have been implemented shows that the costs tend to be both manageable and predictable.

In the United Kingdom, a vaccine-damage payments programme enables people to be given tax-free fixed payouts of £120,000 (about €139,000) if they have suffered significant harm or death from a jab. Other countries which operate such schemes include Austria, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, Norway, Russia, Latvia, Slovenia, Sweden and Switzerland. Consideration in Ireland of such a scheme began more than two decades ago in 2001.