Scottish Covid inquiry: Vaccine injury stigma 'horrific'

According to the National Records of Scotland, there have been nine deaths to date in Scotland where the vaccine was logged as the underlying cause of death and a further four cases where it was mentioned on the death certificate. 

READ MORE: Covid's vaccine injured - and the battle to be heard 

Mr Bryce said: "In England there have been a small number of coroners' inquests where the vaccine was deemed to be the cause.

"In Scotland, there have been no FAIs - and I really think there should be."

Mr Bryce has been appointed to represent the Scottish Vaccine Injury Group (VIG), which has 300 members, as a core participant at the Scottish Covid Inquiry.

He was notified on Tuesday that the group will be allowed to give evidence as part of the Scottish inquiry's first module, on the health and care response to Covid.

He has until Monday to draft a preliminary statement ahead of the inquiry opening on October 24. 

Mr Bryce is representing Scottish VIG, which was founded by Ruth O'Rafferty and Alex Mitchell last year (Image: Gordon Terris/Herald&Times)

As the Scottish inquiry is strictly limited to devolved matters, topics such as vaccine safety and damages - which are included in the UK Covid Inquiry, in which Scottish VIG is also a core participant - will not be covered. 

EXPLAINER: Vaccine injury schemes - and how the work around the globe

However, Mr Bryce said he will seek to question how the medical profession deals with suspected vaccine injuries.

He said: "Some people get a diagnosis of vaccine injury, some people with identical histories don't.

"So there are three issues: are people getting the appropriate medical treatment?; are people being 'gatekept' out of the compensation to which they might be entitled?; and most importantly - the word which I keep hearing from the group, which is at the core of their concerns - is 'stigma'.

"They feel that it is horrifically unfair for them to be stigmatised as 'antivaxxers' when, by definition, they took the vaccine."

It comes as data provided to the Herald as part of an investigation into the UK's Vaccine Damages Payment scheme (VDPS) reveals that 137 payouts totalling £16.4 million have been made UK-wide in relation to Covid vaccines - nearly all for the AstraZeneca jag - including 50 deaths and a wide range of injuries, including blood clots, stroke, heart attack, multiple organ failure, loss of vision, and lung inflammation.

While these events are extremely unlikely and the benefits of mass vaccination, at a population level, greatly outweigh the harms, the VDPS scheme is intended to be a "safety net" for the small number of people who are severely injured when tens of millions are inoculated. 

The scheme, set up in 1979, provides a tax-free lump sum of £120,000, but claimants must be able to demonstrate causality on a balance of probabilities and meet a threshold of 60% disability.

Of the 6,885 claims to date, 2375 were rejected on causality grounds, more than 4000 are still being processed, and 201 were rejected because claimants were deemed insufficiently disabled. 

The process has been criticised as "dehumanising" by claimants who told the Herald that, even once awarded damages, they continue to face doubt, hostility and censorship. 

Alex Mitchell, a member of Scottish VIG who had his left leg amputated above the knee in 2021 as a result of vaccine-induced immune thrombocytopenia and thrombosis (VITT) - a severe clotting disorder - said victims are "in a no man's land".

He said: "You tell people that you're vaccine injured, and those who are pro-vaccine hate us because they say we're trying to put people off.

"The anti-vaxxers say 'serves you right, you shouldn't have taken it in the first place'. I've had messages from people saying 'you deserved to die'.

"We're in this no man's land where everybody thinks it's okay to attack us and all we've got is each other."

More than 150 million vaccine doses have been administered since the Covid vaccine rollout began. It has prevented millions of deaths worldwide, but a small number of people have suffered severe side effects (Image: PA)

READ MORE: The vaccine injured are not the same as antivaxxers 

Peter Todd, a solicitor in England who specialises in vaccine injury cases, says reform of the VDP scheme is "long overdue", but he remains "fairly cautious about the prospects". 

He added: "It needs legislation to improve the situation and I don't think that the government prioritises this area.

"They don't see it as important, they don't see it as winning them any votes, because it tends to affect a very small minority of people."