COVID Vaccine Injury Accountability and Compensation – Position Paper – Vaccine Choice Canada
Update June 1, 2021
Canada launches its first national vaccine injury compensation program – CTV News – “Canada’s program will be administered by RCGT Consulting on behalf of PHAC and is already accepting claims.”
Vaccine Injury Support Program
“A committee comprised of three (3) physicians will review claimants’ medical records to determine if a probable link exists between the injury and the vaccine. This process is based on internationally recognized causality assessment protocols, standards, and existing frameworks, such as those established by Québec’s Vaccine Injury Compensation program and the World Health Organization (WHO).”
Call for applications: Vaccine Injury Support Program – This invitation to submit an application for the administration of the Vaccine Injury Support Program (VISP) is now closed. For information and upcoming updates on the VISP, including when the program will be open to receive claims, please visit the Vaccine Safety website.
Federal compensation not ready yet for vaccine injuries, deaths – Health minister says support could be claimed retroactively from start of vaccinations in December – CTV – May 13, 2021
Update May 24, 2021
Loved ones of those injured following COVID-19 vaccine left in the dark about federal relief program – CTV – May 17, 2021
Doctors call for vaccine injury compensation plan in Canada – CANImmunize CEO, Dr. Kumanan Wilson, outlines the need for a vaccine injury compensation fund in Canada to help reduce vaccine hesitancy and increase transparency in healthcare. – video – May 18, 2021
Update March 22, 2021
Media Release – VCC Releases Recommendations for Vaccine Injury Accountability and Compensation Program – “Today Vaccine Choice Canada (VCC) released a position paper on vaccine injury accountability and compensation programs (VICPs). The position paper is in response to the Canadian government’s December 10, 2020, announcement of the launch of a pan-Canadian VICP. The government’s news release said the program would give no-fault, taxpayer-funded, support to people injured by any COVID-19 vaccine. Details of the program have yet to be made public. The new VCC position paper outlines some of the main weaknesses in VICPs of other G20 countries, most notably the US. We note for example that almost all VICPS result in less rather than more protection of people’s health, and less rather than more compensation-payment-related fairness for the population.”
COVID Vaccine Injury Accountability and Compensation – Position Paper – Vaccine Choice Canada
UPDATE February 5, 2021
Canada’s long road to a vaccine injury compensation program – CMAJ News – “Work is underway on a new pan-Canadian no-fault vaccine injury compensation program, but it may be months before the scheme is operational. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced the Vaccine Injury Support Program in December following a meeting with provincial premiers on the COVID-19 pandemic and other issues. The program will provide financial support to people who experience a serious permanent injury after receiving any vaccine approved by Health Canada. … Although the wording of a Health Canada news release suggested the program was imminently operational, it has not been set up yet. According to a spokesperson, the federal government is committed to working with the provinces and territories on its development, and negotiations are ongoing. The spokesperson told CMAJ the program will launch sometime in 2021.”
UPDATE December 10, 2020
Government of Canada Announces pan-Canadian Vaccine Injury Support Program – Government of Canada
Canada to implement its first national vaccine injury compensation program – CTV – “As part of Canada’s vaccine rollout, the federal government has announced that anyone who experiences a severe adverse reaction to a COVID-19 vaccine will be eligible for compensation — a first in Canada’s history. So far, no details have been released on how one would qualify for the program, or how much they could be eligible for in response to a permanent injury as a result of taking a vaccine.”
To December 10, 2020 Canada was the only G7 nation that did not have a vaccine injury compensation plan.
A CTV News report in 2011 described the legal situation in Canada regarding vaccine injuries:
“[Jennifer] Keelan says currently the only recourse for people who have been injured by a vaccine is to sue the vaccine’s maker or provider. But there has not been a single successful civil lawsuit for medical injury related to immunization in Canada, she says. ‘These are very difficult cases to prove in court,’ she says. … Not only do victims spend money trying to fight the cases, but so do the vaccine makers. ‘And so nobody wins. There’s money spent and the only people that win are the lawyers, really,’ she says.”
Vaccine Injury Compensation Quebec
October 17, 1991 – 35th Parliament, 1st Session – Legislative Assembly of Ontario – “Mr Frankford moved resolution 27: That, in the opinion of this House, the government of Ontario should begin consultation with the public and with health professionals, pharmaceutical manufacturers and health-related organizations regarding the implementation of a compensation scheme for vaccine-related injury. … COMPENSATION FOR VACCINE-RELATED INJURY The Deputy Speaker: Mr Frankford has moved resolution 27. Motion agreed to.”
Petitions
Petition to the Government of Canada from Bob Martin – The Petition is open for signature until May 22, 2020, at 2:29 p.m. (EDT)
Petition to the Government of Canada from Bob Martin – The Petition is open for signature until June 28, 2019, at 2:31 p.m. (EDT)
Please see problems with the US Compensation Plan below
Canadians Need Vaccine Injury Compensation – Angel Petropanagos and Bob Martin, a survivor of Guillain–Barré syndrome, explain the need for a Canadian vaccine injury compensation program. – Impact Ethics 2016
The Case for a Vaccine Injury Compensation Program for Canada – Kumanan Wilson, MSc, FRCPC, Jennifer Keelan, PhD (pdf) – Canadian Journal of Public Health 2012
Designing a No-Fault Vaccine-Injury Compensation Programme for Canada: Lessons Learned from an International Analysis of Programmes – Jennifer Keelan PhD and Kumanan Wilson MSc, FRCP(C) (pdf) Munk School of Global Affairs, University of Toronto 2011
No-fault compensation program overdue, experts say – Canadian Medical Association Journal 2011
Vaccine-Related Injuries: Why Canada Needs to Adopt a No-Fault Compensation Scheme in Light of the New H1N1 Vaccine – Erin Fowler – Dalhousie Journal of Legal Studies 2010
Vaccination and the Law – Report to the Minister of Justice – Law Reform Commission of Saskatchewan (pdf) 2009
Law Reform Commission of Saskatchewan – Consultation paper: Vaccination and the Law (pdf) 2007
Kutlesa NJ. Creating a sustainable immunization system in Canada – the case for a vaccine-related injury compensation scheme. Health Law J 2004;12:201-42. PMID:16539082
Manitoba Law Reform Commission – Compensation of Vaccine-Damaged Children (pdf) 2000
Liability and Compensation in Health Care: A Report to the Conference of Deputy Ministers of Health of the Federal/Provincial/Territorial Review on Liability and Compensation Issues in Health Care, Volume 1 – J. Robert S. Prichard 1990
Liability and Compensation Aspects of Immunization Injury: A Call for Reform By William K. McIntosh, Osgoode Hall Law Journal, Volume 18, Number 4 (December 1980) (pdf)
Coronavirus vaccine makers are shielded from liability. Here’s why officials say that’s normal – Global News
As the race for a vaccine ramps up, so do calls for vaccine injury compensation – CTV – 2020
Vaccine Injury Compensation and the Common Good – Katharine Browne discusses the Canadian Medical Association’s decision not to implement a vaccine injury compensation program. – Impact Ethics
CMA calls for proof of vaccinations before children can be enrolled in school – Doctors proposed a raft of motions aimed at combatting ‘vaccine hesitancy,’ a growing phenomenon experts fear is driving down immunization rates for key diseases – “But in a move that could fuel the anti-vaccination movement, delegates to the Canadian Medical Association’s annual general council meeting Wednesday overwhelmingly rejected a call for a national program to compensate those who suffer the extremely rare injuries that can be caused by vaccines.” 2015
Vaccination insurance – A Victoria resident spearheads a national vaccine compensation movement. By Alan Cassels – Focus Online 2015 – “In October 2010, two weeks after getting his routine annual flu shot, [Bob] Martin lapsed into a severe case of Guillain-Barré Syndrome, a disorder where the body’s immune system attacks part of the peripheral nervous system. It left him paralyzed for eight months, four of which were spent in intensive care, so weak and disabled he needed a machine to do his breathing for him.”
The taboo subject of vaccine injuries – Gwenn wasn’t thinking about anything but her son’s deteriorating health when she rushed him to the British Columbia Children’s Hospital in 1996. The seven-month-old baby had a fever for about a week, then began having small seizures. But this one was different. – Elizabeth Payne, Ottawa Citizen 2014
Patient advocates want support for those injured by vaccines – Gloal News 2014
Vaccine compensation program overdue: experts – CTV News 2011
No-fault compensation urged for those injured by vaccines – Andre Picard, Globe and Mail 2011
Vaccine Injury Compensation Canada – Bob Martin’s website
The Nyman Foundation – Mark Nyman
Vaccine Injury Compensation Data – As of February 1, 2019, total outlays are $4,061,322,557.08.
NVIC Position Statement – National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act of 1986 – May 2018
The National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program aka The Vaccine Court – Wayne Rohde (video)
The Vaccine Court Wayne Rohde -—The Dark Truth of America’s Vaccine Injury Compensation Program – Age of Autism
Wayne Rohde speaks at Queen’s Park Toronto (video starting at 21 minutes) at the Rally for Medical Freedom and Informed Consent, May 25, 2019 – he warns Canadians to be “careful what you are asking for.”
NCVIA: The Legislation that Changed Everything—Conflicts of Interest Undermine Children’s Health: Part II
– Children’s Health Defense – “The National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act in 1986 freed pharmaceutical companies from liability for injuries resulting from childhood vaccines—’no matter how toxic the ingredients, how negligent the manufacturer or how grievous the harm.’ … [cautions for Canada… ] In 2016, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the Wellcome Trust—the world’s two wealthiest charitable foundations and two of the biggest global funders of vaccine development and vaccine programs—teamed up with vaccine manufacturers and government partners from a variety of countries to launch the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI). According to a recent analysis in the Emory Law Journal, the blanket immunity ushered in by the NCVIA has been so successful for vaccine manufacturers that CEPI is looking to export it, creating ‘liability protection and compensation mechanisms based on the U.S. model for vaccine liability’ around the world. The law journal author, Professor Mary Holland, cautions that this would be unfortunate for the developing world. In countries that adopt the U.S. model, vaccines are likely to end up being ‘less safe than they could be, with an inevitable loss of public confidence “both in vaccines and in those recommending them.'”