Asked by: Christopher Chope (Conservative - Christchurch)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an estimate of the number of Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme claims on Covid-19 vaccinations which have been accepted following mandatory reversal based upon (a) additional evidence provided and (b) existing evidence.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Claimants to the Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme (VDPS) can ask for a reassessment, known as a mandatory reversal, if they disagree with the decision on the eligibility of their claim. Additional evidence can be added before it is reassessed, and this can include medical records.
Between 1 November 2021, when the NHS Business Services Authority took over administration of the VDPS, and 20 March 2025, 25 claims have been awarded a Vaccine Damage Payment following a mandatory reversal. Additional evidence was provided for all of these claims.
Claims without additional evidence are received and reassessed through the mandatory reversal process. However, no claims without additional evidence have been awarded a Vaccine Damage Payment.
Asked by: Christopher Chope (Conservative - Christchurch)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when the application by the South Coast Medical Group for the establishment of a surgery in Burton as a Branch of The Grove Surgery was made; and when a decision will be given.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department does not hold information on applications for the establishment of new surgeries as it is for integrated care boards, as part of their commissioning responsibility for primary care, to consider applications for any new general practice surgeries.
The hon. Member may wish to raise this issue with the local integrated care board directly, so it can investigate this further. Their contact details at available at the following link:
https://www.nhs.uk/nhs-services/find-your-local-integrated-care-board/
Asked by: Christopher Chope (Conservative - Christchurch)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what training medical assessors of applications to the Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme relating to covid-19 vaccinations receive; what qualifications are needed to become such an assessor; what continuing professional development requirements must such assessors meet; whether such assessors are required to work in-person and not remotely; and to what supervision are such assessors subject.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Medical assessments are carried out by an independent, third-party supplier. The supplier manages the medical assessors' training and work arrangements, organises for each medical assessment to be peer reviewed by another medical assessor, and is responsible for ensuring that medical assessors continue their professional development.
All medical assessors are General Medical Council (GMC) registered doctors with a license to practise and a minimum of five years' post graduate experience. They are held to strict professional standards set by the GMC and, in addition to their five years’ post graduate experience, assessors must have experience of undertaking a medical and/or disability assessment, and of addressing questions of causation and impact in the context of legislative or policy requirements.
Asked by: Christopher Chope (Conservative - Christchurch)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme (VDPS) medical assessors are in post; and how many assessors have left since the roll-out of the VDPS to covid-19 vaccinations.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The number of medical assessors is managed by a third-party supplier and varies depending on the volume of claims received, as well as the volume of medical records received from healthcare providers. Since COVID-19 was added to the Vaccine Damage Payment Act 1979, the number of medical assessors assessing claims has significantly increased.
Asked by: Christopher Chope (Conservative - Christchurch)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many applications to the Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme relating to covid-19 vaccinations have been subject to a request for mandatory reversal; how many and what proportion of such requests (a) were rejected and (b) have been outstanding for more than (i) three, (ii) six and (iii) 12 months; and how many and what proportion of rejected requests were referred to the First-Tier Tribunal.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
As of 27 February 2025, 1,657 applications to the Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme relating to COVID-19 vaccinations have been subject to a request for mandatory reversal. Re-assessment has been completed for 1,073 of these applications, with 21, or 2% of, decisions reversed. A reversal does not mean that the original decision was incorrect, as claimants provide additional information during the mandatory reversal process which can alter the outcome of the assessment.
Of the outstanding claims, 333, or 20% of the total mandatory reversal applications, have been outstanding for more than three months. Of those, 200, or 12%, have been outstanding for more than six months, and of those 81, or 5%, have been outstanding for more than 12 months. 69, or 7% of, rejected mandatory reversals have been referred to the First-Tier Tribunal.
Asked by: Christopher Chope (Conservative - Christchurch)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much his Department has indemnified Astrazeneca in relation to covid-19 vaccine damage claims.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government cannot comment on the terms on which COVID-19 vaccinations were procured, which are confidential.
Asked by: Christopher Chope (Conservative - Christchurch)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to paragraph 20 of his Department's Opening Statement to Module 4 of the UK Covid-19 Inquiry, published 15 January 2025, what estimate his Department has made of the number of (a) deaths, (b) infections and (c) hospitalisations that were prevented by the covid-19 vaccination programme since September 2021.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The estimated total averted hospitalisations, severe hospitalisations, and deaths for the spring and autumn 2023 boosters were:
- 1,654 hospitalisations, 108 severe, and 508 deaths for the spring 2023 booster program in those aged 75 years old and over; and
- 7,054 hospitalisations, 473 severe, and 1,862 deaths for the autumn 2023 booster program in those aged 65 years old and over.
This can be found in the COVID-19 vaccine surveillance report week 29, which is available at the following link:
In total, an estimated 14,400 hospitalisations were averted in adults aged 50 years old and older in England as a result of the vaccination from the autumn 2022 COVID-19 vaccine booster programme. This information is in the COVID-19 vaccine surveillance report week 41, which is available at the following link:
These are a direct effect calculation and do not include any additional cases prevented from herd immunity. They also do not include cases averted where COVID-19 exacerbated a non-respiratory condition that led to hospitalisation.
In total, an estimated 18,600 hospitalisations, based on cases reported through the Sari-Watch surveillance scheme, were averted in adults aged 50 years old and older in England as a result of vaccination from the autumn 2021 COVID-19 vaccine booster programme. Further information can be found on the GOV.UK website, at the following link:
This was also a direct effect calculation method.
Asked by: Christopher Chope (Conservative - Christchurch)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what tribunal decisions have been used by the NHS Business Services Authority to assess claims relating to Covid-19 vaccinations under the Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Since taking over administration of the Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme on 1 November 2021, all decisions taken by the NHS Business Services Authority that have been appealed to tribunal have been upheld.
Decisions in first tier tribunals do not set a precedent for other cases. All claims to the Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme are assessed on a case-by-case basis, using the latest available medical evidence. Medical assessors will consider the claim form, medical records from the vaccinated person’s healthcare providers, clinical research, epidemiological evidence, and the current consensus of expert medical opinion.
Asked by: Christopher Chope (Conservative - Christchurch)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many people received a flu vaccine between 1 September and 31 December in each year since 2021.
Answered by Andrew Gwynne
The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) publishes provisional monthly data on flu vaccine uptake in eligible patient groups, which is available at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/vaccine-uptake#seasonal-flu-vaccine-uptake:-figures.
The following table shows data from general practice (GP) patients covering vaccination up to 31 December in each year since 2021/22, expressed as a percentage:
Patient group | 2024/25 (%) | 2023/24 (%) | 2022/23 (%) | 2021/22 (%) |
65 years old and over | N/A | 77.0 | 78.4 | 81.5 |
At risk | N/A | 40.3 | 46.3 | 49.3 |
Pregnant women | N/A | 30.9 | 33.2 | 37.3 |
Children aged two years old | N/A | 41.0 | 39.8 | 46.6 |
Children aged three years old | N/A | 41.3 | 42.2 | 49.1 |
Source: UKHSA
Note: The monthly data for the corresponding period in the 2024/25 season will be published on 30 January 2025.
The following table shows data for school aged children and frontline health care workers covering vaccination up to 31 December in each year since 2021/22, expressed as a percentage:
Cohort | 2024/25 (%) | 2023/24 (%) | 2022/23 (%) | 2021/22 (%) |
Primary school (Reception to year six) | N/A | 53.8 | 55.5 | 52.9 |
Secondary school (eligible year groups varied by season) | N/A | 41.2 (Year six to 11) | 10.3 (Year six to nine) | 37.8 (Year seven to 11) |
All school age children | N/A | 48.4 | 38.3 | 46.7 |
Frontline health care workers | N/A | 41.0 | 46.7 | 58.8 |
Source: UKHSA
Asked by: Christopher Chope (Conservative - Christchurch)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 30 October 2024 to Question 10667 on Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme, what discussions he has had with Vaccine Injured and Bereaved UK, and other representatives of those who have suffered harm from vaccinations; and if he will publish a summary of what was discussed at the meeting.
Answered by Andrew Gwynne
Ministers met with representatives from Vaccine Injured and Bereaved UK on 11 September 2024. The group highlighted the issues facing those who have suffered serious adverse effects following COVID-19 vaccination, and raised concerns around the Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme. Ministers agreed to look at the issues raised.