Groups representing hundreds of people who were injured or bereaved as a result of adverse reactions to the Covid vaccines will give evidence to the UK public inquiry.
Three groups - UK CV Family, Vaccine Injured Bereaved UK (VIBUK) and the Scottish Vaccine Injury Group - have been granted Core Participant Status.
Combined the groups have more than 1,500 members.
They will give evidence next year as part of a module dedicated to investigating issues including the development, implementation and uptake of the vaccine rollout programme.
Hearings will also scrutinise the current system for compensation, known as the UK Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme.
It pays out a one-off, tax-free lump sum of £120,000, but only if recipients have suffered "60 per cent disability".
READ MORE: Covid vaccines are safe - but damages must be fair for those who are harmed
The inquiry, chaired by Baroness Heather Hallett, will hear from Charlet Crichton and Caroline Pover, founding members of UK CV Family; Kate Scott and Charlotte Wright, of VIBUK; and Alex Mitchell, Louise Whitford and John Watt of the Scottish Vaccine Injury Group.
All three groups are represented by Hudgell Solicitors.
Ruth O'Rafferty, one of the founding members of the Scottish Vaccine Injury Group (VIG), said its members had been "ostracised and silenced" after suffering harm or losing a loved one after taking part in the vaccination scheme.
The Scottish VIG is also a core participant for the Scottish Covid Inquiry.
She said: "Our members have not only suffered the massive loss either of a loved one, their health, livelihood, freedom and for some their future, but in addition they have faced disbelief, incredulity and even been ostracised and silenced, so to have their voices heard at a statutory inquiry will hopefully be the first step in a long overdue healing process.
“They have had to fight to have a voice, advocate for themselves over and over again and still, many are no better.
"They did what they were told was necessary for everyone’s good. Now the world has moved on and they feel abandoned."
READ MORE: Covid vaccines, the GMC, and the row over Aseem Malhotra
Ms O'Rafferty said she hoped that the inquiry would make recommendations that ultimately lead to "easier access to timely medical diagnosis and treatment of vaccine injury, desperately needed psychological and financial support, and an end to gas-lighting".
Terry Wilcox, a solicitor at Hudgell Solicitors, who has represented families at the recent Manchester Arena Inquiry and subpostmasters at the ongoing Post Office Horizon IT Inquiry, said: “These are groups of people who had a Covid-19 vaccine to protect themselves during the pandemic, and who, unfortunately, have suffered serious ill health since.
“Some people have sadly died due to complications; deaths which have been recognised by medical professionals and the courts, to have been caused by the complications linked to the vaccines.
“The development and roll-out of Covid-19 vaccines was of course crucial in helping the world emerge from the pandemic and to return to the normality we again enjoy today, but it is only right and proper that this inquiry fully explores the cases where vaccine damage has led to life-changing situations.”
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