As nations are speeding up their Covid vaccination to revive their economy, Australia will likely be paying compensation to its citizens for vaccine-related injuries.
A report in the Sydney Morning Herald stated that thousands of people have registered to claim compensation for health issues that followed after getting inoculated with the Covid vaccine that was issued under the federal government's no-fault indemnity scheme.
More than 10,000 Australians who have registered under the government's program are likely to claim compensation for the loss of income after being hospitalised due to rare but significant side effects from the shots. The compensation that starts at A$5,000 will include medical costs and lost wages to be paid by the government. The Scheme would cost the Australian Government at least A$50 million ($37 million) if each claim is approved.
Australia’s Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) has received around 79,000 reports of adverse reactions from 36.8 million doses of vaccine, reported Bloomberg. Some of the frequently reported side-effects include a sore arm, headache, fever and chills.
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The TGA has got 288 reports evaluated as likely to have heart inflammation associated with Pfizer Inc. vaccine, as well as 160 of rare clotting disorder thrombosis with thrombocytopenia syndrome (TTS) linked to the AstraZeneca Plc vaccine.
Nine deaths have been connected with the vaccination program, the majority of whom were aged 65 and above, the TGA stated.
The registrations were opened in September on the health department’s website which also covers those recipients who have experienced moderate to significant adverse reactions that resulted in the hospitalisation of at least one night.
The claimants who have sought $20,000 or less are needed to submit evidence of their injury and its connection to Covid-19 vaccination, including medical costs and lost wages.
The Australian government is yet to issue the guidelines around what the standard of proof will be required that will verify that the person’s damage was caused by the Covid vaccine jab.
The island country has by far inoculated 37,846,128 Coronavirus vaccine doses, which according to the Department of Health, accounts for 90.7 per cent of people aged 16 and above have got at least one dose of the vaccine, while, 83.5 per cent of people aged 16 and above have been inoculated with their second dose.
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Australia will soon begin vaccinating its children under the age of 12 from January. Medical regulators are still in the process of analysing the health and safety data for the vaccinations for children, Health Minister Greg Hunt said.
"The expectation that they have set is the first part of January, hopefully, early January,” Hunt added.
Since the onset of the pandemic, Australia has recorded 1,90,604 infections and 1,888 deaths. Around 20,622 active cases across the country with 615 people hospitalised with the infection, was reported by the health department.