How can I claim from the Covid-19 Vaccine Injury No-Fault Compensation Scheme?

Anyone who has suffered a serious Covid-19 injury, or the dependent of a deceased person whose death was caused by the vaccine, can claim from government’s Covid-19 Vaccine Injury No-Fault Compensation Scheme, with claims having to meet certain criteria to quality.

The scheme was created after an agreement between government and pharmaceutical companies Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson last year. It is funded by government and is meant to indemnify vaccine manufacturers and the state from claims of injury and death that result from the vaccines.

Deputy acting director-general for the National Health Insurance Nicholas told Business Day the scheme has not yet to received nor paid out any claims.

To lodge a claim you must make sure the vaccine was approved and met the requirements of the SA Health Products Regulatory Authority. 

You must have received the jab at a registered vaccine site after May 17 2021.

The injury must have been severe and “resulting in permanent or temporary physical or mental impairment or death”.

You can lodge a Covid-19 vaccine-related injury report by visiting a health facility and filing out a compensation form, contact the Covid-19 hotline on 0800 029 999 or use the MedSafety app.

Once reported, the national immunisation safety expert committee will investigate the relationship between the injury and the vaccination.

If they conclude it has caused harm or death, they will notify the department of health, who will notify the scheme’s administrator.

The administrator will get hold of you to assist with lodging the claim.

In his address to the nation this week President Cyril Ramaphosa said the scheme will not fall away with the scrapping of the national state of disaster.

“The scheme will only be terminated once it has achieved its purpose,” he said.

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