The U.S. government has received thousands of COVID-19 vaccine injury claims. As of May 31, 2023, 8,208 people had filed requests for compensation with the Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) Countermeasures Injury Compensation Program (CICP) after developing serious health problems following COVID shots.1
The CICP has only adjudicated 749 of the 8,208 injury claims, with only four claims resulting in compensation.2 Despite this track record, when the Biden administration declared the COVID public health emergency over on May 11, HHS stated that COVID vaccine injury claims would remain under the CICP through 2024.3
Not only have there been a small number of payouts for COVID vaccine injury claims, the amount of money provided to vaccine injured victims has been meager. The payout amount of the first three claims that received compensation from the CICP totaled less than $5,000. Two payout recipients who suffered myocarditis (inflammation of the heart) from the COVID shots received $1,583 and $1,033 respectively as compensation for their serious injury.4
U.S. Vaccine injury Compensation Program Overwhelmed With Claims
Due to the vast number of COVID vaccine injury claims filed that have had no resolution in the CICP, the plaintiff’s attorneys are advocating that the COVID vaccine injury claim process be reformed and that claims be handled by the Vaccine Injury Compensation Program (VICP) created under the National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act (NCVIA) of 1986. Shifting COVID vaccine injury claims to the VICP, which currently adjudicates vaccine injury claims related to vaccines recommended by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) for children and pregnant women, might be the ultimate goal, but some attorneys are saying that the infrastructure of VICP would need to be expanded before it could handle an additional large case load of COVID shot injury claims.5
The VICP is already overwhelmed with a backlog of outstanding claims for injuries and deaths related to many other vaccines CDC recommended routinely given to children and pregnant women.
Attorney Renee Gentry, director of the Vaccine Injury Litigation Clinic at George Washington University said of the VICP:
It doesn’t have the infrastructure yet. [Even half of the COVID caseload] would double the size of the vaccine program. It would come to a crashing halt. A lot of these people have devastating injuries, and they need at least a fair shot at compensation.6
After the U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services declared a COVID public health emergency in early 2020, the 2005 Public Readiness and Emergency Preparedness Act was used to place any injuries caused by COVID shots distributed with an Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) granted by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), under the CICP.7 Although the FDA approved Pfizer/BioNTech’s Comirnaty messenger RNA (mRNA) COVID biologic in 2022 and the shot was added to the CDC’s recommended schedule for children and adults, including pregnant women, there was no change to the vaccine injury compensation process and COVID vaccine injury claims are still covered by the CICP rather than the VICP.8
VICP Has Awarded $5 Billion in Compensation to Vaccine Injured
The NCVIA was created after vaccine manufacturers threatened to stop producing childhood vaccines because of DPT and OPV vaccine injury lawsuits and Congress pledged to protect the vaccine supply. The law was historic acknowledgement that government licensed and recommended vaccines can cause injury and death. Parents of vaccine injured children, including the co-founders of the National Vaccine Information Center (NVIC), secured vaccine safety informing, recording, reporting and research provisions in the Act.
The Act also established a no-fault federal compensation system alternative to a medical malpractice lawsuit against negligent doctors or a design defect lawsuit against vaccine manufacturers in civil court, although a 1987 congressional amendment to the Act removed liability for doctors and other vaccinators for malpractice and, in 2011, the US Supreme Court gave manufacturers a liability shield against product design defect lawsuits.9 10
The VICP is jointly administered by HHS and the U.S. Department of Justice and claims are adjudicated in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims.11 The vaccine injury claim process includes a hearing before a special master in the US Claims Court, where plaintiffs lawyers and U.S. Department of Justice lawyers representing the Secretary of DHHS argue for and against compensation based on definitions of what constitutes a vaccine injury listed on a Vaccine Injury Table. There is an appeals process for contested rulings and written justification for rulings made by special masters are available to the public.12
The VICP is funded by a $.75 excise tax on vaccines covered under the Act.13 Since it began operating in 1989 through 2022, the VICP has compensated just under 10,000 claims with a pay-out totaling five billion dollars including petitioner awards and attorney costs.14 15 In comparison, from its inception in 2010 through May 2023, HHS officials state, “To date, the CICP has paid compensation for 30 CICP claims, totaling more than $6 million.”16
CICP Funds Can Only Be Accessed After All Other Sources Have Been Exhausted
The CICP was established in 2010 to be a payor of last resort in order to provide compensation for unreimbursed medical expenses, lost income, and some death benefits that resulted from receiving covered countermeasures as set forth in the Public Readiness and Emergency Preparedness (PREP) Act. There are a number of hurdles to overcome to receive compensation from the CICP. The CICP is funded by Congressional appropriations, unlike the VICP that is funded by a surcharge on doses of individual vaccines covered under the 1986 Act.17 There is a strict timeline for applying to the CICP for compensation as the deadline is only one year after receipt of the countermeasure for filing an injury claim.18
The CICP only covers unreimbursed medical expenses and up to $50,000 a year in lost wages, along with a possible death benefit of up to $422,035. The CICP does not cover plaintiff attorney fees, compensation for pain and suffering or punitive damages.19 In addition, the administrative proceedings take place behind closed doors. There are no hearings available to the claimant nor are they open to the public.20
A CICP spokesperson explained that the CICP is…
The payer of last resort and can only reimburse or pay for reasonable medical services or items, or lost employment income that are not covered by other third-party payers, such as health insurance, Veterans Affairs benefits, or Workers’ Compensation.21
Claimants Face a Difficult Hurdle Under the CICP
Not only do those injured by COVID shots have trouble retaining legal counsel for their claims because attorney fees are not covered by the CICP, the standard of evidence to prove an injury claim is exceptionally high. Petitioners must show “compelling, reliable, valid medical and scientific evidence” that their injury was “the direct result” of the shot. This standard of proof is made more burdensome by the fact that the COVID shots have only been administered in the U.S. since December 2020. With a limited number of scientific studies published in the medical literature, even with compelling medical history evidence demonstrating the injury was more likely than not due to a COVID shot, proving that a covered injury is “the direct result of the administration” of the shot is extremely difficult.22
In addition, the CICP infrastructure apparently is not equipped to handle so many COVID vaccine injury claims and lacks the manpower and equipment to effectively respond to claimant inquiries. HHS officials only recently established an online portal to track COVID vaccine injury claims.23 24
Peter Meyers, JD, emeritus professor at George Washington University Law School and former director of the Vaccine Injury Clinic, criticized the CICP. He said:
Horrible program. You basically submit your application for compensation, it’s then dealt with secretly, and you don’t have a right to have a lawyer paid for by the program. You don’t have a right to a hearing. We have no idea how these cases are being processed. There is such a lack of transparency in this program that it’s frightening.25
The CICP has asked Congress for $15 million in order to “enhance communication” and “substantially increase its capacity to review at least 2,000 claims.” The program has requested to hire 42 additional full-time employees to sort through the backlog of claims.26
If you would like to receive an e-mail notice of the most recent articles published in The Vaccine Reaction each week, click here.
Click here to view References:1 Lopez I. Covid Vaccine Injury Payout Plan Push Comes After Emergency End. Bloomberg Law May 31, 2023.
2 Ibid.
3 Lopez I. Covid Vaccine Injury Payout Plan Push Comes After Emergency End. Bloomberg Law May 31, 2023.
4 Greene J. COVID-19 vaccine claims yield small payouts from U.S. government. Reuters Apr. 18, 2023.
5 Lopez I. Covid Vaccine Injury Payout Plan Push Comes After Emergency End. Bloomberg Law May 31, 2023.
6 Ibid.
7 COVID-19: Is the US compensation scheme for vaccine injuries fit for purpose? BMJ 2022; 377: o919 Apr. 28, 2022.
8 National Vaccine Information Center (NVIC). What type of vaccines have emergency use authorization (EUA) status and what compensation is available when they cause injury? Aug. 26, 2022.
9 Fisher BL. NVIC Position Statement on the National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act of 1986. February 2018.
10 NVIC. National Vaccine Information Center Cites “Betrayal” of Consumers by U.S. Supreme Court Giving Total Liability Shield to Big Pharma. BusinessWire Feb. 23, 2011.
11 NVIC. What Do I Need To Know About Vaccine Injury Compensation? Apr. 19, 2023.
12 COVID-19: Is the US compensation scheme for vaccine injuries fit for purpose? BMJ 2022; 377: o919 Apr. 28, 2022.
13 Human Resources & Service Administration. About the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program. June 2023.
14 HRSA. Data & Statistics. Sept. 1, 2022.
15 Lopez I. Covid Vaccine Injury Payout Plan Push Comes After Emergency End. Bloomberg Law May 31, 2023.
16 HRSA. Countermeasure Injury Compensation Program (CICP) Data. May 2023.
17 Lopez I. Covid Vaccine Injury Payout Plan Push Comes After Emergency End. Bloomberg Law May 31, 2023.
18 U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Announcements: Countermeasures Injury Compensation Program. July 2, 2010.
19 Greene J. COVID-19 vaccine claims yield small payouts from U.S. government. Reuters Apr. 18, 2023.
20 COVID-19: Is the US compensation scheme for vaccine injuries fit for purpose? BMJ 2022; 377: o919 Apr. 28, 2022.
21 Greene J. COVID-19 vaccine claims yield small payouts from U.S. government. Reuters Apr. 18, 2023.
22 Ibid.
23 Lopez I. Covid Vaccine Injury Payout Plan Push Comes After Emergency End. Bloomberg Law May 31, 2023.
24 Lindstrom R. Program to pay for COVID vaccine injuries seeks $15 million to fix problems. 11 Alive May 12, 2023.
25 COVID-19: Is the US compensation scheme for vaccine injuries fit for purpose? BMJ 2022; 377: o919 Apr. 28, 2022.
26 Lindstrom R. Program to pay for COVID vaccine injuries seeks $15 million to fix problems. 11 Alive May 12, 2023.
One Response
This is exactly like VA Compensation thru Board of Veterans Appeals (BVA). You have a non-attorney BVA Judge who knows nothing about medicine / vax injuries; doesn’t know how to read medical records / medical terminology. Judge consults junior docs / contractor docs who know nothing about immunity / vax injury / “progressive” infectious debility. If you LIVE long enough, you can hire a civilian attorney to appeal to Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims (CAVC). But you have to pledge to pay hourly rate and a % to attorney, if they win. It gripes me that we have such an incompetent BVA who can stall VA comp for decades – 32 years for me – & counting. If ur too sick to work, you do without meds, docs and food at LEAST 1 week per month, just to make ends meet. Sounds like medical malpractice.