Thank you for your request for information about the following:

How many people were affected by the Covid Vaccine

a) how many people were affected by having the vaccine

b) how many people claimed issues against the Covid Vaccine either vaccine (s)

c) how many were as of today were paid out

D) how many complaints were made about the NHSbsa claim process this will Include any that were rejected

I’m not looking for names, I’m looking for numbers or data

You clarified your request to be the following:

1) I want to know the number of claims issued to the VDPS against the COVID vaccine rollout, this can be in it entirety or by vaccine eg: Mederna, Astra Zeneca etc

2) I want to know how many claimants (to date)

• Have been paid out
• How many have been rejected
• How many have opted for mandatory reversal
• How many have been successful on the Mandatory Reversal

3) How many complaints have been made to the NHSbsa on the handling of the process under the VDPS, this can be based on anything related to delay, procedure, outcome etc basically anything related to the VDPS

4) How many complaints about the VDPS went through the stage 1 & stage 2 compliant procedure

Your clarified request was received on 25 July 2023 and I am dealing with it under the terms of the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

Response

All data as of 25 July 2023. All data relates to claims received by the NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA) and those transferred from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) on 1 November 2021. Data for questions 1 and 2 relate to COVID-19 vaccine claims.

Fewer than five VDPS awards

Please be aware that I have decided not to release the exact number of awards, as the number is fewer than 5. This is because the claimants could be identified, when combined with other information that may be in the public domain or reasonably available. Online communities exist for those adversely affected by vaccines they have received. This further increases the likelihood that those may be identified by disclosure of this information.

This information falls under the exemption in section 40 subsections 2 and 3A (a) of the Freedom of Information Act.

This is because it would breach the first data protection principle as:

a) it is not fair to disclose claimant personal details to the world and is likely to cause damage or distress.

b) these details are not of sufficient interest to the public to warrant an intrusion into the privacy of the claimant.

Please click the below web link to see the exemption in full.

https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2000/36/section/40

Breach of patient confidentiality

Please note that the identification of claimants is also a breach of the common law duty of confidence. A claimant who has been identified could make a claim against the NHSBSA or yourself for the disclosure of the confidential information.

The information requested is therefore being withheld as it falls under the exemption in section 41(1) ‘Information provided in confidence’ of the Freedom of Information Act.

Please click the below web link to see the exemption in full.

https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2000/36/section/41

Remaining information

Question 1

6,685 claims have been received by the Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme (VDPS).

We have answered question 1 based on the total number of claims received by the VDPS. This is because we do not collect data about vaccine manufacturer as part of the claim process as this is not a requirement of the scheme. The independent medical assessor reviews a claimant’s full medical records and prepares a report which is than shared with the claimant along with the outcome of their claim. At this stage in the process, we do hold information about vaccine manufacturer. We are therefore only able to disclose data about vaccine manufacturer for claims where the independent medical assessment has been concluded and the outcome has been communicated to the claimant.

Question 2

• 131 claimants have been notified they are entitled to a Vaccine Damage Payment
• 2,410 claims have been rejected
• 311 requests for a mandatory reversal have been received
• Fewer than five have been notified they are entitled to a Vaccine Damage Payment as a result of a mandatory reversal.

Questions 3 & 4

Between 1 May 2022 and 25 July 2023, we received 326 complaints in relation to the VDPS. Of these complaints, 24 were escalated to stage 1 of our complaints procedure. Of the 24, 13 were escalated to stage 2 of our complaints procedure.

Data Queries

If you have any queries regarding the data provided, or if you plan on publishing the data please contact foirequests@nhsbsa.nhs.uk ensuring you quote the above reference. This is important to ensure that the figures are not misunderstood or misrepresented.

If you plan on producing a press or broadcast story based upon the data please contact communicationsteam@nhsbsa.nhs.uk This is important to ensure that the figures are not misunderstood or misrepresented.

The information supplied to you continues to be protected by the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 and is subject to NHSBSA copyright. This information is licenced under the terms of the Open Government Licence detailed at: http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/

Should you wish to re-use the information you must include the following statement: “NHSBSA Copyright 2023” This information is licenced under the terms of the Open Government Licence:

http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/

Failure to do so is a breach of the terms of the licence.

Information you receive which is not subject to NHSBSA Copyright continues to be protected by the copyright of the person, or organisation, from which the information originated. Please obtain their permission before reproducing any third party (non NHSBSA Copyright) information.