Mr Justice Charles Meenan, in his December 2020 report into the handling of medical negligence claims, recommended, as a matter of urgency, the introduction of a vaccination compensation scheme. Subsequent to the publication of the Report , the Taoiseach recently confirmed that Cabinet had agreed that a scheme would be established and managed by the State Claims Agency. Unfortunately, despite the scheme being labelled a priority, it has emerged that plans for a vaccination compensation scheme will be delayed as “significant work” still needs to be done to establish the scheme.
The Department of Health has advised that progression on the scheme has been hampered because resources have been diverted into the battle against Covid-19. A report by an Oireachtas research group found that 25 jurisdictions globally have vaccination injury compensation schemes, 16 of which are in Europe.
The news comes as reports into illnesses and injuries linked to Covid-19 vaccines begin to rise. According to a recent report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (the CDC) there have been 1,000 reports of myocarditis or pericarditis after the mRNA vaccination in children under age 18. Just recently, an inquest into the death of a 14 year old boy in the west of Ireland heard that the death was an issue of “significant public concern” given the connection between his death and his vaccination for Covid-19 three weeks prior. The coroner said “The circumstances of [the boy’s] death is that Covid vaccination was administered to him; that there appears to have been either a reaction or a significant change in his medical circumstances following the administration of the vaccine and that subsequently, unfortunately, [the boy] died”. The Coroner stated that “considerable investigation into the vaccine, the effects of the vaccine and also the effects of the vaccine on [the boy} ”.
Despite being published in December 2020, the Meenan Report and its recommendations were provided to the Minister for Health in January 2020. The Meenan Report recommended that a vaccination compensation scheme be put in place as a matter of urgency acknowledging the “strong moral argument that the State, which actively encourages vaccination, should accept responsibility for those who suffer harm as a result”.
According to the Government "There is still significant work required….regarding vaccine damage compensation. As part of that work, it is anticipated that consideration will also be given to the inclusion of claims relating to alleged adverse reactions from Covid vaccines.” It is difficult to predict when we are likely to see a vaccination compensation scheme in this jurisdiction and whether it will actually cover Covid-19 vaccines.
