TODAY Baroness Hallett’s public inquiry into the government’s Covid-19 response begins to assess the safety and efficacy of government-recommended vaccines and therapeutics. This is stage four of the grim post mortem designed to judge the UK’s response to, and impact of, the Covid-19 pandemic.
A much maligned, gaslit and ignored pressure group, Vaccine Injured and Bereaved UK (VIBUK), has joined forces with Scottish Vaccine Injury Group (ScottishVIG) and UK Covid Vaccine Family (UKCVFamily), who fought for a seat at the table. The groups have 1,500 members who either have confirmed vaccine injury or whose loved ones were killed by Covid jabs.
Attending on behalf of the three groups will be Charlet Crichton and Caroline Pover, 52, both disabled by the AstraZeneca vaccine and founding members of UK CV Family. Representing VIBUK are Kate Scott, 34, whose husband Jamie suffered a brain injury caused by the AstraZeneca jab and Charlotte Wright, 36, whose husband Dr Stephen Wright died age 32, ten days after his AstraZeneca shot. Representing the Scottish Vaccine Injury Group are Alex Mitchell, 59, who had his leg amputated thanks to blood clots caused by his AstraZeneca jab, Louise Whitford, 36, injured by the same batch of AstraZeneca as Alex, and John Watt, 37, who was injured by his Pfizer booster.
The collective words they use to describe how they feel are ‘devastated’ and ‘heartbroken’, and their injuries as ‘life-changing’. ‘The impact of the death and injuries caused to us, and our families, is unfathomable.’ In a statement the groups said: ‘Our members did the right thing. They were encouraged to take the jab to help society and told that if anything did go wrong, they would be supported. Instead, they’ve been ignored by the medical profession, politicians, and the media. They have struggled to be heard.’
Behind the scenes, plenty of politicians agree but only four of 650 MPs have spoken out. Last October, Conservative MP for Devizes, Danny Kruger, told the House, ‘I am a member of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Covid-19 vaccine damage. The APPG looks at vaccine injuries, and we had our first meeting last week. I am afraid there were only a tiny handful of colleagues there, but well over a hundred members of the public attended. I felt somewhat ashamed, on behalf of Parliament, that that was the first time that those members of the public – including families of the bereaved, who are themselves injured citizens – had had the opportunity to be in a room with members of this House.’
Sir Jeremy Wright, Conservative MP for Kenilworth and Southam, said this time last year: ‘It is important not just that we have the right scheme, but that it pays out quickly. It is clear that the scheme in place at the moment is not doing that, and it simply is not acceptable or feasible for families in severe financial distress to have to wait the length of time that they are being asked to wait.’
Andrew Bridgen, former Conservative MP for North West Leicestershire, now of the Reclaim party, told the House of Commons in December 2022 that he would: ‘make a case for the immediate suspension of emergency-use vaccinations . . . because of clear and robust data of significant harms and little ongoing benefit.’
The Conservative MP for Christchurch and Dorset, Sir Christopher Chope, said in a recent interview: ‘There are a lot of opposition colleagues who almost seem to be in denial still about the link between Covid vaccines and ill health.’
They all support VIBUK, who have four main issues with the system designed to compensate the injured and bereaved:
· The time it takes the VDPS to pay out. VIBUK say that the process is inefficient, outdated and causes emotional stress and trauma. Most wait a minimum of 18 months to four years for their claim to be assessed, and awards are in the minority.
· The payment criteria are unreasonable: the injured must prove they are 60 per cent disabled. Why 60 per cent? Is a five per cent, 25 per cent or 45 per cent disability not important?
· The award is fixed at £120,000, but in the US there is no upper limit because each injured or bereaved person has different needs. For example, a disabled child would need far more funds over a lifetime than a middle-aged or elderly adult.
· There is an unsure care pathway. Vaccine injury is strongly denied by the medical profession who are not taught the devastating conditions jabs can cause such as Guillain-Barré syndrome (an autoimmune condition that can cause paralysis), myocarditis (heart inflammation that can lead to heart failure and sudden death) and vaccine-induced immune thrombotic thrombocytopenia (VITT) which can cause fatal blood clots, pulmonary embolism and seizures.
By July 11 2023, the VDPS had received 6,399 claims relating to Covid vaccinations. According to a freedom of information request, to date only 127 claimants have been notified that they are entitled to compensation, while 177 whose claims had been accepted received rejection notices telling them they were considered less than 60 per cent disabled. More than 2,000 claims were rejected on medical grounds and a further 146 did not meet the criteria for medical assessment. A total of 557 waited over 12 months for a decision and 166 have been waiting for over 18 months.
The VDPS was set up in 1979, when the threshold for payments was 80 per cent injury. It came into being largely due to the efforts of a mother, Rosemary Fox, and a group of parents whose children were vaccine injured in the 1960s. It took 20 years for the state to recognise that Rosemary and John Fox’s daughter Helen suffered convulsions and permanent neurological impairment as a result of her childhood vaccinations. As Rosemary sought explanations, she was told that she was damaging the vaccine programme and should keep quiet.
Nothing has changed in 60 years and the injured are still treated appallingly and told to shut up. The injustice of this is unfathomable in what is supposed by be a civilised country. Citizens following government advice to help protect fellow citizens sustained life-changing injury, only for those who issued that advice to turn their back on them.
Crass comments do not help like those made by Conservative MP Nadhim Zahawi, then vaccine minister, who said in August 2021 that if the injured and bereaved did not like the VDPS ‘tax-free payment’ they should sue the drug companies. He said: ‘The scheme does not prejudice the right of the disabled person to pursue a claim for damages through the courts.’ It was a cruel, unfeeling comment. How did he expect anyone with lifelong and life-limiting disability to mount an expensive, complex personal injury claim requiring many expert witnesses and scientists?
VIBUK have started a petition to reform the VDPS. You can sign here.
