Vaccine damages payment schemes have been in place for decades in countries around the world to provide a "safety net" for citizens who are harmed as a result of taking part in government-funded immunisation programmes.
Given that high levels of vaccination coverage are required to achieve herd immunity or - in the case of Covid - significantly reduce rates of hospitalisation and death, the argument goes that governments have a duty to fairly compensate the small number of people injured or bereaved as a result of vaccination.
No medical product - however safe - is completely free from risks. This means that when tens of millions of people are vaccinated some will inevitably suffer serious or even fatal side effects, albeit at a much lower rate compared with exposure to the disease (measles, Covid, polio etc) which the vaccine guards against.
READ MORE: Scottish Covid inquiry lawyer - Vaccine injured face 'horrific' stigma
How many countries have vaccine damages schemes?
It is estimated that 146 countries worldwide now have "no fault" systems which mean that people do not have to go to court to obtain damages. This compares to 25 before the pandemic.
It includes 92 low and middle-income countries covered by the World Health Organisation's Covax programme, which pays a lump sum to affected individuals "based on a specific formula designed to be generous, fair and equitable" and which reflects the "cost of living" in a given economy.
How do vaccine damages schemes work?
Eligibility criteria "vary considerably" between countries, according to researchers. Since few vaccine-related injuries have a clinical or laboratory marker, definitively proving cause-and-effect is difficult.
In most cases, claims are evaluated on a balance of probabilities meaning that damages can be paid where a vaccine has "more likely than not" led to injury or death.
All countries require that the effects be long lasting (more than six months). Payouts range from fixed amounts to unlimited sums calculated to compensate for loss of earnings, medical costs and even emotional distress.
Legal experts have criticised the schemes, however. In paper in published in May 2023, international researchers warned that "prior to the pandemic, the unfortunate reality was that gaining a remedy for vaccine injury, if available at all, was often a Kafkaesque process with a slow and complex route to compensation...while programs in Nordic countries provide rapid and transparent access to compensation, other schemes erect high hurdles or offer only inadequate redress."
READ MORE: Scotland's vaccine injured - and the battle to be heard
How does the UK scheme work?
The UK scheme, set up in 1979, pays a one-off fixed lump sum of £120,000 for vaccine-related injuries or bereavements.
Claimants must meet a minimum disability threshold of 60%, which has been criticised as a "substantial yet arbitrary hurdle" which means that comparative few damages awards have been issued.
How do other countries' schemes work?
JAPAN
By February this year, Japan had made damages payments in relation to 1,622 injury claims - including 30 deaths - involving Covid vaccines. The Japanese government pays 44.2 million Yen (£240,000) to bereaved relatives. Families can also receive 209,000 Yen (£1,140) towards funeral costs.
Where someone has sustained a lifelong disability they are entitled to annual payments of more than ¥5 million (£27,000).
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GERMANY
Germany was the first country in the world to establish a vaccine damages scheme in 1953. By February this year Germany had paid damages in relation to 253 out of 2061 Covid vaccine claims - a success rate of 12%.
Above a certain level of damage, the German state offers a basic lifelong pension of between €164-854 euros (£160-740) per month. It can also fund medical costs, and provide state-funded funeral costs and death benefits to the bereaved.
NORWAY
Norway pays an uncapped lump sum to citizens who have been bereaved or injured as a result of vaccination, where disability is at least 15%. The damages calculation can also include loss of earnings and medical costs, such as physiotherapy.
Funeral costs are covered in relation to bereavement, as well as compensation for the loss of that individual's financial contribution to the household.
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