A woman says she has received a £120,000 payout after her fiancé died just days after getting the Covid jab. Vikki Spit claims she has received the first coronavirus vaccine damage payment of its kind - but said that the final sum was 'not acceptable.'
Her partner of 21 years, Lord Zion died in May 2021, eight days after the AstraZeneca jab. The couple, who were in the band Spit Like This, were due to get married that same year.
Vikki, from Alston, Cumbria, called an ambulance for Lord, 48, when he began suffering 'excruciating' headaches on May 13, last year. He died in Newcastle's Royal Victoria Infirmary six days later and his death certificate confirmed he died due to complications from the vaccine, reports the BBC.
Read more: Young dad, 23, died after visit to opticians with blurry vision led to devastating diagnosis
Vikki filed for the claim under the NHS Business Services Authority's Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme. The Covid jab has been proved to be safe for the vast majority of those who get it.
But a very small number of people suffered from blood clots and myocarditis as a result of the jab - prompting the government to change the eligibility criteria for this vaccine to protect people, reports the BBC. The UK government has previously stated: “If side effects such as pain and/or fever are troublesome, they can be treated by medicines for pain and fever such as paracetamol."
However, those who died as result of the AstraZeneca vaccine are entitled to file for claims, reports the Mirror. Vikki went on to tell GB News she that the compensation payment was just the “first step in the battle”.
She said: "This isn’t about money as nothing can bring back the people we have lost. This is about recognition. I think it is disgusting that widows and injured people have had to fight for a year to get this support, we aren’t finished yet.”
Vikki said she was forced to take out loans to cover costs after he died and had to borrow money from her family to pursue the claim. She added that the final pay-out was not acceptable, claiming the amount hasn't risen since 2007.
She also explained her household income had "massively dropped" since Zion's death. Vikki added she applied for the scheme in June 2021, but wasn't awarded the compensation until last week.
She told the BBC in November: "We have been together for almost half my life - it's literally like having half of yourself ripped away, especially when it happened so suddenly. There are people who are really struggling and finding it really difficult, all because they just did the right thing.
"They did what the government was telling us to do - to protect everyone, to bring the country back to normal, and their lives have just been shattered."
In February, the Mirror reported how more than 500 people are seeking compensation for problems caused by Covid jabs – and that number could soar into the thousands. Those who experienced severe side effects can apply for up to £120,000 under the Vaccines Damage Payment Scheme.
An NHSBSA spokesperson told The Mirror: "All Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme (VDPS) claims are medically assessed by an independent, third party medical assessor. The NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA) has now started to receive outcomes from the independent medical assessor for the first batch of COVID-19 related claims sent for assessment. We will contact each claimant directly as soon as we have an update on their individual claim."
A spokesperson for the Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme said: “All Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme (VDPS) claims are medically assessed by an independent, third party medical assessor. The NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA) has now started to receive outcomes from the independent medical assessor for the first batch of COVID-19 related claims sent for assessment.
“We will contact each claimant directly as soon as we have an update on their individual claim.”
The Department of Health has been contacted for comment.
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