A Covid vaccine compensation scheme could be set up after thousands claimed they have been left disabled as a result of the AstraZeneca jab, The Telegraph has learnt.
The Health Secretary is considering plans to establish a bespoke programme for those suffering from life-changing conditions as a result of the Covid jab, similar to the scheme for victims of the Infected Blood Scandal.
It comes amid concern the existing Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme (VDPS) is struggling to cope after becoming overwhelmed by a huge volume of claims from those suffering side-effects after Covid vaccines.
Campaigners argue VDPS, which was set up in 1979, is no longer fit for purpose. Officials at the Department of Health and Social care are understood to be looking at whether VDPS should be reformed or overhauled.
Last month, Wes Streeting and Andrew Gwynne, a health minister, met with campaigners from the Vaccine Bereaved and Injured UK (VIBUK) group to discuss their concerns about the existing compensation scheme.
Some of the families, represented by VIBUK, are involved in the legal action against AstraZeneca, which admitted in a case earlier this year in court documents that its Covid vaccine can "in very rare cases" cause a side-effect.
The pharmaceutical giant is being sued in a class action over claims that the jab, developed with the University of Oxford, caused death and serious injury in dozens of cases. The Government has indemnified AstraZeneca against any legal action, but has so far refused to intervene.
Sir Jeremy Wright MP, the shadow attorney general, attended the meeting with Mr Streeting and VIBUK last month and has another follow up meeting with him scheduled in the coming weeks.
"The two options are reforming the VDPS and also setting up a bespoke compensation scheme," he said. "But it is not an option for the government to put its head in the sand and do nothing.
"If you are in the very small minority of those injured [by the Covid vaccine], those people have a right to expect the state to look after them properly - they were only doing what the state asked them to do."
Over 15,000 people have applied for compensation from the VDPS for alleged harm caused by Covid vaccines, according to the latest official figures.
Of the 15,804 claims that have been made to the VDPS from those suffering an adverse reaction to the Covid jab, only 188 have been told they are entitled to payout.
The figures, which were disclosed by the Government following freedom of information requests, show the vast majority of successful claims relate to the AstraZeneca vaccine with fewer than five in connection to Pfizer and Moderna.
Payments have been awarded for conditions including stroke, heart attack, dangerous blood clots, inflammation of the spinal cord, excessive swelling of the vaccinated limb and facial paralysis.
Campaigners argue that VDPS does not adequately compensate those who have suffered severe side-effects from Covid vaccines and been left unable to work.
VDPS awards a one-off £120,000 tax-free payment to people who have been severely injured and to the families of those who have died, as a result of vaccination against certain diseases including Covid. In order to qualify for the payment, individuals have to be deemed 60 per cent disabled.
Charlet Crichton, who founded the charity UKCVFamily, which supports those who have suffered side-effects from Covid vaccines, said: "We are optimistic that the new government is supporting their vaccine injured and bereaved constituents and we hope that the scheme will be reformed.
"We are calling for a complete overhaul of the scheme. There are too many things wrong with the current scheme for it to be viable."
A Department of Health and Social Care spokesman said: "Our deepest sympathies are with those who have suffered harm.
"The Secretary of State has met with the families to listen to their concerns and agreed that the government will look closely at these as we continue to learn and apply the lessons of the pandemic."