Nigel Farage today called for a full public inquiry into the harms caused by Covid vaccines.
The former UKIP leader argued there is ‘a lot we need to know’ about the jabs and called for a ‘massive investigation’ into any damage they caused.
Vaccines played a vital role in building the wall of immunity that allowed the UK to turn a corner in the pandemic, leaving lockdowns and restrictions behind.
But, like with all medications, they can have side effects. Rare cases of blood clots and heart inflammation have been recorded.
For this reason, the Government has a compensation scheme which dishes out six-figure sums to those who have been harmed by jabs, including those offered during the Covid crisis.
However, lawyers representing dozens of Brits who have been injured or bereaved by the jabs have previously warned that the scheme is ‘no longer fit for purpose’.
Severe reactions to the jabs this week gained fresh attention after a man who claims his health ‘crumbled’ after his booster dose confronted Rishi Sunak and demanded that he ‘do the right thing’ and speed up payments for those injured by the jab.
The former UKIP leader said there is ‘a lot we need to know’ about the jabs and called for a ‘massive investigation’ into the damage they caused
Richard Tice, leader of Reform UK, told GB News that his party would commit to a public inquiry into vaccine injuries if it was to come into power.
Asked about the pledge, Mr Farage said Mr Tice was ‘dead right’.
He told the programme: ‘There’s a lot we need to know. We were told to take the so-called vaccine and you won’t catch Covid. Take the vaccine and you won’t pass Covid on. Both of those things were totally, completely untrue.
‘We were told the vaccine was safe in every way.
‘Frankly, it had not been through anything like the normal testing that any kind of vaccine in terms of trials.
‘Now we learn there’s elderly people on their seventh jab.
‘That is not the kind of vaccines that you and I grew up with, where you have a vaccine once and you are inoculated for life.
‘I do think there needs to be a massive investigation, not just into the harms that were caused by the vaccine – and all vaccines cause side effects, we know that, but there do seem to be an alarming number of people, young men in particular, who’ve developed myocarditis and other heart conditions.
‘I’m not getting conspiratorial about this but let’s have it out in the open.
‘I want to know as well, why we were lied to.
‘I want to know why they were trying to vaccinate kids, of primary school age, when Covid posed no threat to them whatsoever.’
He added: ‘This needs a proper full public inquiry.’
Some 157million Covid vaccines have been delivered in England since the rollout began in December 2020.
Brits were invited for an initial two doses, followed by boosters to top-up immunity. Additional jabs have been offered to those most at risk of the virus, in the same fashion as flu vaccines, which are offered annually to protect against severe illness.
The jabs triggers the immune system to create antibodies that protect against Covid, meaning that it can more easily fight off the virus if it comes into contact with it in the future.
They have been credited with preventing severe illness, hospitalisations and deaths. In the first four months of the of the rollout alone, analysis suggests 10,400 fatalities were averted in England.
Studies suggest that they also offer some protection against catching the virus in the first few weeks after they are dished out.
The UK Health Security Agency and Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency closely monitor the safety of the jabs, using studies and real-world data.
All vaccines used in Britain, including those that helped beat Covid, went through rigorous testing before being dished out.
The jabs were the fastest to ever be created, with scientists developing the vaccine in less than a year of Covid being detected. It also marked the first time mRNA jabs were approved for human use — though this tech had been around for decades.
Trials saw tens of thousands of people vaccinated with jabs made by AstraZeneca, Pfizer and Moderna to check their effectiveness, as well as safety.
However, it was only when the jabs were rolled out en masse that very rare side effects, such as myocarditis (heart inflammation), Guillain-Barré syndrome (numbness in the hands, feet and limbs) and blood clots.
Some 157million Covid vaccines have been delivered in England since the rollout began in December 2020. Pictured: People queuing outside Wembley Stadium for a Covid jab in December 2021
The Government’s Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme, launched in 1979, is meant to reassure people that — in the extremely unlikely event something goes wrong following a jab — the state will provide them financial support.
It covers an array of vaccines recommended by the Government, including measles, mumps and rubella, as well as the Covid vaccines.
Under current rules, victims are entitled to a one-off ‘all-or-nothing’ sum of £120,000 from the Government.
Strict eligibility criteria means those affected must either have been killed or be left 60 per cent disabled due to a vaccine.
The extent of a person’s disability is based on an assessment by a doctor and can include both physical disablement, such as the loss of a limb, or mental disablement, such as a decline in cognitive function.
The UK Covid inquiry, which is split into six modules, will probe vaccines and drugs used during the pandemic.
It will look at how the jabs were dished out, their safety and whether the vaccine compensation scheme needs to be reformed.
The probe will also consider the role of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation, which advised ministers on who should be eligible for vaccination.
However, inquiry chair Baroness Hallett revealed last month that it would be postponed from this summer until after the next general election because longer was needed to prepare for the module on the impact of Covid on the NHS.
