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

The full costs of the VDPS have , external for the first time in the answer to a parliamentary question from the backbench Conservative MP Sir Christopher Chope.

In response, health minister Dame Diana Johnson said a total of £83m had been spent on staffing costs, administration and medical reviews between April 2022 and March 2026.

Under the scheme, claimants must have their application reviewed by an independent doctor, to check whether they have met the threshold of "severe disablement".

If approved, they can then receive a one-off, tax-free payment of £120,000. The process can take months or even years.

The costs of those medical assessments have increased from £4.3m in 2022/23 to £19.3m in 2025/26, according to new data published by the government.

Based on the latest available data up to June 2026, the total amount paid out in damages to those killed or left injured after being given a Covid vaccine has risen to £31.6m.

"The administrative costs and medical assessor supplier costs of the VDPS are driven by the number of claims received," said the NHSBSA, which runs the scheme on behalf of the government.

"We have seen a significant increase in the number of claims received since taking over administration of the VDPS in November 2021. "

The campaign group Vaccine Injured and Bereaved UK (VIBUK), which was set up to support families affected, said the scheme was not fit for purpose.

"It offers too little, too late, to too few and the cost of running it shows how inefficient it is," said the group's representative Kate Scott, whose husband Jamie was left severely disabled by the AstraZeneca Covid vaccine.

Scott called on the government to act on and reform the scheme.

Earlier this year, the Covid inquiry's chair, Baroness Heather Hallett, recommended increasing the payout and basing it on the degree of injury suffered.

The government is due to respond to her recommendations next month.

The BBC has previously which has been carrying out medical assessments.

The Taxpayers' Alliance, a right-leaning think tank which campaigns for lower taxes and spending, said that the public would be "stunned" that the running costs of the scheme appeared to be "far more than has actually been paid out to those harmed".

"When administrative costs are running into tens of millions, ministers need to explain why the system is so expensive and whether victims are getting value from it," said the organisation's chief executive John O'Connell.

He called for the government to urgently review the scheme, cut "unnecessary bureaucracy" and make sure "more of the money goes to those it was created to help. "

The Department for Health and Social Care was contacted for comment. NHSBSA said it continued to work "closely" with the government on "managing the costs of the VDPS".