Are people with SIRVA and other vaccine related injuries from the Covid-19 vaccine going to become eligible to file Vaccine Injury Compensation Program (“VICP”) claims? Unfortunately, the answer is that we still don’t know. However, there does appear to be some legitimate hope.
Last week I was in DC for the Vaccine Injury Petitioners Bar Association’s annual conference and The United States Federal Court of Claims Judicial Conference. The VIP Bar, which I promise you is way less cool than it sounds, consists of the small group of attorneys from around the country whose practice focuses on representing individuals with vaccine injuries in the VICP. The VIP Bar advocates, both inside and outside the courtroom, for individuals who have been injured by vaccines and also works with the courts and legislatures in the hope of getting individuals with vaccine injuries fair access to compensation and justice.
The Federal Court of Claims is the court that oversees the administration of the VICP. Within the VICP, there are eight Special Masters, one of whom is the Chief Special Master or CSM. The current CSM is Brian Corcoran. The Special Masters are essentially the judges in the vaccine court and CSM Corcoran is the equivalent of the chief judge.
At the VIP Bar conference, we had a presentation and discussion on what we believe the possible scenarios are for the Covid-19 vaccine being added to the VICP. In sum, we currently believe there are three plausible scenarios. The first would be for the Congress to simply pass the seventy-five center per dose excise tax on the Covid-19 vaccine. This would in turn add the Covid-19 vaccine to the VICP and activate the “lookback” provision in the Act that would allow all individuals who have ever been injured by the Covid-19 vaccine to file VICP claims. However, if the tax was passed, it is unclear what would happen to people who previously filed Countermeasure Injury Compensation Program (“CICP”) claims.
The second possibility is that Congress passes the bipartisan bill that is sponsored by Democratic Congressmen Lloyd Doggett of Texas and Republican Congressman of Pennsylvania Lloyd Smucker. This bill would transfer all claims in the CICP to the VICP. It would increase the number of Special Masters and increase the amount of time an individual has to file a claim from three years to five years, essentially opening the door for anyone who has ever been injured from the Covid-19 vaccine to file a claim. This would be great and if you have a Covid-19 vaccine injury I would encourage you to contact your representative and ask them to support this bill. This bill also tries to expand the VICP to additional vaccines that are recommended for routine administration to adults. Here is a link to a press release that talks about that bill https://doggett.house.gov/media/press-releases/rep-doggett-files-legislation-modernize-vaccine-injury-compensation-program#:~:text=%E2%80%9CI%20believe%20that%20those%20who,unreasonable%20delays%20and%20inadequate%20redress.
The third option is a bill introduced in the Senate by Pennsylvania Senator Bob Casey. This bill also has bipartisan support. This bill, in its current form, would help individuals moving forward but would not provide individuals who had been injured by the Covid-19 vaccine prior to its enactment to file VICP claims. If you have a current Covid-19 vaccine injury, you certainly prefer the “Doggett” bill to this one. That “Casey” bill can be found at https://www.congress.gov/118/bills/s2333/BILLS-118s2333is.pdf
It is anybody’s guess about what will happen in the end. That being said, I was fortunate enough to attend CSM Corcoran’s remarks on the current state of the vaccine program as well as attend a panel he moderated with the other seven Special Masters. In his remarks, CSM Corcoran made it clear that he is preparing for the VICP to see an influx of Covid-19 claims from injuries that have already occurred. To be clear, CSM Corcoran doesn’t know for sure what is going to happen, but his remarks indicated that he believes there is a very realistic chance all existing and future Covid-19 injury claims will sooner or later be in the VICP. The VIP Bar is taking the same approach and also preparing accordingly.
Please continue to follow this blog and my other posts for more and additional information. If you have been injured by a vaccine that is currently covered under the VICP, please feel free to contact me for more information on how I might be able to help you. You can also visit and please subscribe to my YouTube channel for videos on SIRVA https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCL8K9skefr6VQ4OpGVt2VeQ
I also have a Facebook Group dedicated to people with vaccine injuries you can join https://www.facebook.com/groups/367223891511939
Finally, please feel free to e-mail with any questions at dan@sirvainjury.com or call/text me at 773.412.3320
If you are suffering from a vaccine related injury I hope you feel better soon.
Best,
Dan