A legal action has been taken against AstraZeneca over the company’s Covid-19 vaccine by a man who was left with severe brain injury following his jab in April 2021. Jamie Scott, a father-of-two, suffered a blood clot which resulted in brain damage and his inability to continue working. Taking action under the Consumer Protection Act, Scott alleges that the vaccine was “defective” because it was less safe than what he and other individuals were entitled to expect. The World Health Organization stated in June 2022 that the AstraZeneca vaccine was deemed “safe and effective” for individuals aged 18 and above.
The case is expected to be at least a year away from a full court hearing. While a further lawsuit involving around 80 people who suffered injury by the vaccine is anticipated to be launched later this year, Scott’s case is expected to go on trial first. AstraZeneca stated that the safety of patients is its top priority and that regulatory authorities have implemented strict standards to ensure the safe use of all medicines, including vaccines. The company also expressed its sympathies for affected individuals and their families.
The Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme (VDPS), which offers tax-free compensation to individuals affected by a vaccine injury or to their bereaved next of kin, awarded 144 of 148 payments to recipients injured by the AstraZeneca vaccine, according to official figures obtained under a Freedom of Information request. Claimants must demonstrate that the vaccine caused severe disability of at least 60%, and families assert that the current level of compensation, which has not been adjusted for inflation since 2007, is wholly insufficient.
In April 2021, the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation declared that those under 30 years old should be offered an alternative to the AstraZeneca vaccine due to rare blood-clotting. This was then amended by the committee in May 2021 to include those under 40 years old. Scott was 44 when he was administered the vaccine. His wife, Kate Scott, shared that Jamie needed over 250 rehabilitation sessions with specialists to walk, swallow, and talk, and experiences memory problems. Kate Scott calls for the government to improve the Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme and provide fair compensation for those affected.
AstraZeneca produced the Oxford vaccine on a not-for-profit basis. An independent study by disease-forecasting company Airfinity last year estimated that the vaccine had saved more than six million lives and was the most effective Covid-19 vaccine. However, in the months following the launch of the vaccine, instances of a potential side-effect emerged, resulting in the identification of vaccine-induced immune thrombosis and thrombocytopenia (VITT). These cases were so rare that they were not identified in the vaccine’s global trials
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