Running costs of vaccine damage scheme more than double amount paid to victims

The government scheme to support people injured by Covid vaccines and other jabs has cost £83m to run since April 2022, new figures have revealed.

The amount spent on administration costs and medical assessments is more than double the £32m paid out in financial support to victims so far.

The Taxpayers' Alliance think tank said the public would be "stunned" at the cost and called for the government to urgently review the scheme.

NHSBSA which runs the scheme for the government says rising numbers of claims are behind the increasing administrative and medical assessor supplier costs.

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The latest data , external shows there have been 24,260 claims since November 2021, although just 264 have been successful.

The Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme (VDPS) was set up in 1979 to provide financial support to people who, in rare cases, had been harmed by vaccines of any type.

Since the pandemic the number applying for damage payments has increased sharply.