Federal compensation for COVID-19 vaccine-related deaths and injuries has nearly tripled in two years, new figures released Wednesday indicate. Managers of a Vaccine Injury Support Program had withheld scheduled reporting of payments for an undisclosed reason, according to Blacklock’s Reporter. Figures showed compensation paid to date totaled $18,140,998, nearly triple the $6,695,716 paid to 2023. Payments include coverage of medical or funeral expenses.Statistics indicated a total 3,317 Canadians filed compensation claims. Of those fewer than a tenth, 243 cases, have gone through a lengthy verification process and been certified by a medical review board..The program was originally budgeted at $75 million with claims expected to 2027. Managers have since acknowledged the program will go over budget.“The overall cost of the program is dependent on the volume of claims and compensation awarded over time, and that the demand remains at very high levels,” said a December 17 health department memo Funding For The Pan-Canadian Vaccine Injury Support Program.“The purpose of this funding is to ensure people in Canada who experience a serious and permanent injury as a result of receiving a Health Canada authorized vaccine administered in Canada on or after December 8, 2020 have access to a fair and timely financial support mechanism,” said the memo.Dr. Supriya Sharma, senior medical advisor for the health department, earlier told reporters the long term effects of COVID-19 vaccines were not known.“The benefits outweigh the potential risks but it is still a drug and still a vaccine and there are potential risks even if they’re rare,” said Sharma. “That’s why we continue to monitor it.”.Dr. Theresa Tam, then-chief public health officer, in 2020 said she never believed the vaccine was 100% effective. “I was told I was such a downer when I was just trying to be realistic about communicating the fact it is not a magic solution,” Tam said in a videoconference at Carleton University in Ottawa.“We have never said the vaccine was going to be a 100% effective."“But people pick at that concept for unrealistic expectations. So we have to go out there and set some expectations.”“From where I’m sitting the public, although they appreciate the rapid research, the words ‘rapid’ and ‘quick’ engenders a certain amount of concern,” said Tam. “I think how I’ve tried to approach it is to communicate the regulatory process. Being fast-tracked doesn’t mean you skip safety.”“Everyone is an armchair epidemiologist,” said Tam. “I find the whole thing a bit sort of surreal.”
