MP Aaron Bell 'delighted' as benefits protected after vaccine payouts

Conservative MP Aaron Bell had campaigned for the change which will see entitlements to benefits protected

An MP has welcomed a change in the law after campaigning to improve access to benefits for those left injured or bereaved by Covid-19 vaccines.

Aaron Bell, MP for Newcastle-under-Lyme, led the bid after he was contacted by Sheila Ward, whose husband Stephen died after the AstraZeneca jab.

It means access to other benefits will be protected for those who receive compensation.

AstraZeneca has been approached for comment

The government's Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme (VDPS) provides a one-off payment of £120,000 to those who are injured or partners who are bereaved as a result of reactions to vaccines.

But those who have received the VDPS payment have often seen their entitlement to other benefits affected.

Deaths or serious injuries as a result of Covid-19 jabs are very rare, while the vaccine programme is estimated by the government to have prevented more than 100,000 deaths and more than 200,000 hospitalisations during the first eight months of the rollout in 2021 alone.

The Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine had previously been linked to very rare blood clots

However, use of the AstraZeneca (AZ) was no longer offered to adults under 40 from May 2021 after it became clear the vaccine carried an extremely rare risk of blood clots, which could be fatal.

Mr Ward, 57, died after suffering blood clots and bleeds on the brain following his first AZ vaccination in March 2021.

His wife, who is a member of Vaccine Injured Bereaved UK (VIBUK), contacted her MP saying some members of the group had seen Universal Credit payments stopped after receiving the VDPS compensation.

'Morally imperative'

"It seemed unfair," she said, "It was affecting the most vulnerable and the people who were the most financially challenged at the time."

Conservative MP Mr Bell, said he was "absolutely delighted" to have convinced the government to make the change.

He told BBC Radio Stoke it was "morally imperative", that authorities stood by those who had been affected.

"Those very few people who were damaged by the vaccine, it's right that we do everything that we can," he said.

A Department of Work and Pensions spokesperson added: "From 9 July, partners of those who receive a vaccine damage payment, will no longer see their entitlement to means-tested benefits affected."