Ottawa announces vaccine injury program

The federal government has announced a compensation program for anyone who is harmed by the COVID-19 vaccine — or any other vaccine that's approved by Health Canada.

“In the very unlikely event of an adverse reaction though, we want to make sure Canadians have fair access to support,” said Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

If Ottawa does create such a program — it requires the cooperation of the provinces and territories — we would join just 19 other countries around the world that have some variety of a vaccine compensation policy.

Dr. Lynora Saxinger, a University of Alberta professor and infectious disease specialist, said there's a risk that the announcement undermines the messaging that the vaccine is safe.

“And so, it depends, I guess, on whether you think people's main fear is an adverse reaction or their main fear is not getting support in the event of an adverse reaction,” Saxinger said.

Trudeau said the program would be to support those who experience an “adverse reaction.” It's unclear how he is defining that — or what form supports from the government might take.

Tim Caulfield, the Canada Research Chair in health law and policy at the University of Alberta who has spoken extensively about misinformation in medicine, said such a policy creates “challenging communications issues, even if the policy makes sense.”

“On the one hand, they make sense because we're asking Canadians to get vaccinated as a public health act, an act for their community and therefore, if there's injury it makes sense to compensate them for it,” he said.

“On the other hand, it does create this impression injuries happen and require compensation.”

Adverse reactions from vaccines are rare. For example, anaphylaxis or a severe allergic reaction, occurs in one in 760,000 vaccinations, according to an article in the Canadian Medical Association Journal.

Mild reactions — such as swelling around the injection site — are common, as the body reacts to build immunity.

The program would likely be “no fault,” meaning the vaccine maker wouldn't be admitting liability for the harms caused.

Quebec is the only province that already has a vaccine compensation program. Between 1985 and 2018, the province disbursed $ 5.4 million in 43 cases; there had been 228 claims, 187 of which were deemed likely enough to be evaluated.