Widow welcomes Covid-19 vaccine compensation report

A woman whose husband died after taking the Covid-19 vaccine has welcomed a report recommending an increase in compensation for bereaved families.

Kam Miller received a payment of £120,000 under the government's Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme (VDPS) as her husband Neil Miller died after suffering from extremely rare side effects linked to the AstraZeneca vaccine.

Kam, from Kibworth, Leicestershire, has campaigned for an increase as she said Neil was the family's "main breadwinner".

The Covid-19 Inquiry has now published recommendations calling for compensation to be increased with inflation. The government said it would "respond in due course".

Kam said she was happy bereaved families were "finally being listened to" after "five difficult years".

"We can never get back our loved ones but it is some support.

"It goes a long way in helping us to map out our futures now.

"It is good that we are finally being listened to but it is just now when will they put all that into action?

"I just want to see them now implemented because five years is a long time to wait," she said.

Neil, a father-of-two, developed fatal blood clotting after receiving the jab in March 2021.

Kam said previously that her husband was fit and healthy but became seriously ill after he was vaccinated.

She said he began to suffer flu-like symptoms which became steadily worse, leading to several visits to hospital, in Leicester, over a two-month period.

Neil, 50, an IT worker, died on 1 May 2021 after collapsing at home.

His death certificate showed he died from vaccine-induced immune thrombosis and thrombocytopenia (VITT) and an inquest into his death concluded he had a "rare reaction" to the Covid-19 vaccine.

The latest public inquiry, chaired by Baroness Heather Hallett, heard the one-off tax-free payment of £120,000 available through the VDPS was last revised in 2007 and if it was adjusted in line with inflation would now be in excess of £200,000.

The inquiry report also recommended the payment be adjusted yearly based on inflation, adding "multiple levels of payment" corresponding to the "degree of injury suffered" should be introduced.

Sarah Moore, of solicitors Leigh Day, who are representing Kam and other campaigners, said the latest recommendations showed "real recognition" of the trauma her clients had suffered.

She said: "It is positive, but we have had a few false dawns with this case.

"We are now five years into that battle, we have had sympathy, kind words, meetings with central government but until the government actually stops talking about it and starts doing something, then Kam and the other clients in our group have to continue to fight."

Kam is separately suing AstraZeneca for damages, with the case due to be heard in 2027.

She said she understood the government would fund any successful claims against AstraZeneca because it indemnified the company when it was developing its vaccine for the purpose of accelerating its rollout during the pandemic.

"I'm not anti-vaccination," said Kam when speaking to the BBC previously.

"And neither was Neil. He was keen to have his jab as soon as he could and he felt he was doing the right thing.

"But I do believe if he had not had the vaccine and later got Covid, he would have survived it."

A spokesperson for AstraZeneca said patient safety was its "highest priority".

"Our sympathy goes out to anyone who has lost loved ones or reported health problems.

"From the body of evidence in clinical trials and real-world data, the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine has continuously been shown to have an acceptable safety profile and regulators around the world consistently state that the benefits of vaccination outweigh the risks of extremely rare potential side effects.

"We are incredibly proud of the role the Oxford-AstraZeneca played in ending the global pandemic.

"According to independent estimates, over six million lives were saved in the first year of use alone and over three billion doses were supplied globally," the spokesperson added.

A Department for Health and Social Care spokesperson said the government would consider the report's findings "in detail and respond in due course".

They added the government remained "committed to learning vital lessons from the Covid-19 Inquiry and to strengthen our preparedness for the future".

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