More than 17,000 Brits now claim they have been injured or have had loved ones killed by a Covid jab, according to the latest Government data.
Despite ministers’ promises of compensation for those harmed by the vaccines, only 194 have received damages from the official Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme.
It comes as US scientists identified an alarming syndrome linked to mRNA jabs, those made by the likes of Pfizer and Moderna and which have become the most common type of Covid vaccine used in Britain.
Called ‘post-vaccination syndrome’, the condition appears to cause brain fog, dizziness, tinnitus and exercise intolerance, the researchers reported.
Some sufferers also show distinct biological changes, including differences in immune cells and the presence of coronavirus proteins in their blood, years after taking the shot.
The condition is also said to increase the risk of reawakening a dormant virus called Epstein-Barr, which can cause flu-like symptoms, swollen lymph nodes and nerve issues.
The full results of the small study have not yet been published or peer reviewed, and the Yale University experts emphasised the results ‘are still a work in progress.’
There are no figures for the number of potential post-vaccination syndrome patients in Britain.
However, Government data has recorded the number of people applying for compensation for injuries and deaths they believe to be caused by the jabs.
Over 17,000 Brits now claim they have been injured or have had loved ones killed by a Covid jab, according to Government data. Stock image
The latest figures, published by Parliament last month, show a total of 17,379 applications had been made to the UK’s Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme as of November last year, with at least 70 of these related to deaths.
The controversial scheme predates the Covid jabs, and offers some victims of vaccine injuries and deaths a one-off payment of £120,000.
It has been widely criticised for requiring patients to be at least 60 per cent disabled by their injuries in order to qualify for a payout — for example losing a limb, a sense like your sight, or complete paralysis.
Just over £23.2million has been paid out to claimants according to the latest Government figures.
Of the 9,196 rejected claims, 416 were done so on the grounds that, while a victim had been injured by a vaccine, they didn’t meet the 60 per cent disability threshold.
However, a further 7,173 victims, or their families, are still awaiting a verdict meaning the totals could still rise.
Separate data, published by the NHS in October, shows that of the 8,806 completed claims for Covid vaccines, 3,034 were for jabs made by Pfizer and 445 for Moderna — both mRNA vaccines.
Neil Miller, 50, collapsed and died on May 2021, not long after receiving a Covid-19 vaccine- his wife Kam has criticised the after-care given to sufferers and their families
Jack Last, 27, died at Addenbrooke’s Hospital in Cambridge on April 20 2021 just a few weeks after getting the Oxford AstraZeneca jab
Lisa Shaw, 44, an award-winning radio presenter on BBC Radio Newcastle, is another who died from the AstraZeneca jab reaction, in May 2021
The remainder were for the non-mRNA AstraZeneca jab, which was linked to a devastating blood clot reaction missed in the original trials, known to have killed dozens of Brits, or for patients who received more than one type of Covid vaccine.
Applications to the Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme have soared in recent years.
Data shows 9,554 applications were received in 2024, up 70 per cent on the previous year (5,611) and more than triple the figure in 2022 (2,828).
This is a colossal increase compared to the decade prior to the rollout of Covid jabs, when the scheme only saw between 50 and 102 applications per year.
The NHS’s latest breakdown found that between November 2021 and October last year, only 685 claims for non-Covid vaccines have been received, compared to 16,824 Covid jab applications.
Covid-jab related payments had been made for conditions such as allergic reactions, pneumonia, vision loss, facial paralysis, rare bleeding disorders, nerve damage, lung damage, heart damage, blood clots and stroke.
The Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme is to offer the public faith that, should they suffer a rare side effect, they will receive support. It is hoped that this will encourage more Brits to take up the jabs.
However, campaigners have noted that the £120,000 figure that was set in 2007 hasn’t kept pace with inflation and the rising cost of living.
Some victims argue the sum doesn’t reflect the severity of disability they have suffered.
According to figures from the Bank of England, if the payment had increased in line with inflation, it would now be just over £195,000.
Another criticism is the lengthy time it takes to receive an outcome. The latest data suggests the average waiting time from claim to result is nearly nine months.
Critics warn a growing lack of faith in the scheme could lead to a fall in vaccine uptake, putting the future of public health at risk.
Covid vaccine side effects have re-entered the spotlight following a new study by scientists at Yale.
The team collected blood samples from 42 people with post-vaccination syndrome (PVS) and 22 people without it between December 2022 and November 2023.
A 2022 study led by academics at Imperial College London suggests almost 20million lives were saved by Covid vaccines in the first year since countries began rolling out the jabs, the majority in wealthy nations
Michelle Utter of Florida was told she had to receive the Covid vaccine in 2021 in order to visit her military sons who were at port. Within days, the former athlete, was crawling on the floor, feeling like she was ‘on fire inside.’ Now, the mother-of-three can hardly stand long enough to cook dinner
When they analysed the patients’ immune systems, those with PVS had different proportions of some immune cells.
It’s unclear what these differences might mean as the researchers couldn’t link them to specific symptoms.
The team also looked at 134 people with long Covid, as PVS symptoms overlap with it, as well as 134 healthy vaccine recipients.
Both people with long Covid and those with PVS seemed to have reactivated Epstein-Barr syndrome and elevated levels of Covid spike proteins.
However, independent experts have also urged caution over the Yale findings.
Dr John Wherry, director of the Institute for Immunology at the University of Pennsylvania, said it’s possible some of the excess spike protein identified in the study may be from undetected Covid infections.
He told The New York Times: ‘I would like to see more data on this topic.’
The mRNA Covid vaccines are estimated to have saved tens of millions of lives globally from Covid, 1.6million in Europe alone and 3million in the US.
They are also credited with helping end the series of paralysing lockdowns brought on by the Covid pandemic.
This isn’t the first mRNA jabs have been linked to worrying side effects.
Global reports of myocarditis, a potentially dangerous inflammation of the heart muscle, following Covid vaccination in young men, spooked health chiefs in 2021.
Rates in Britain were eventually found to be lower than in the US and Israel.
Some experts attributed this to the UK’s longer intervals between doses, eight weeks compared to four, which is said to give the body more time to recover.
Data also showed that the risk of myocarditis from Covid itself was far higher than that from a jab, so experts continued to recommend the vaccines.
