A debate has been scheduled in Westminster Hall on Tuesday 6 September 2022 at 4.30pm on ‘Covid-19 vaccines and the Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme’. The debate will be opened by Sir Jeremy Wright MP (Conservative).
Commons Library debate pack: Covid vaccines and the Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme (265 KB , PDF)
The Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme (VDPS) was established under the Vaccine Damage Payments Act 1979.
It provides a one-off, tax-free, lump sum payment of £120,000, out of public funds. It is accessible to people over the age of 2 years who are (or were, immediately before their death) “severely disabled” as a result of vaccination against specific diseases or, in certain circumstances, through contact with a person who has been vaccinated against any of those diseases.
Successive governments have emphasised that it is not a compensation scheme but is instead intended to “ease the present and future burdens of those suffering from severe vaccine damage, and their families.”
This debate pack contains further information about the vaccine damage payment scheme, including eligibility, responsibility for administering the scheme, and processing claims.
Commons Library debate pack: Covid vaccines and the Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme (265 KB , PDF)
The Infected Blood Public Inquiry recommended that the government should set up a compensation scheme for those infected and affected by contaminated blood, blood products and tissue. The government accepted this recommendation and made regulations to establish the Infected Blood Compensation Scheme in August 2024.
The NHS will pay a subscription fee to pharmaceutical companies, which will give it access to new antimicrobial drugs for drug-resistant infections.
Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a significant threat to public health. This briefing provides information on the causes and implications of the development and spread of AMR and about UK and international action to address it.
