Health Secretary ‘unaware’ of vaccine victims’ request for meeting

‘I have an enormous number of invitations. I can’t meet everyone, sadly, that I’m invited to meet’

THE Health Secretary has insisted she did not snub Covid vaccine victims because her aides failed to inform her they had requested a meeting.

Victoria Atkins was accused of ignoring members of a campaign group after her correspondence manager told them her diary was “already hectic” and that she was therefore “unable to meet”.

Survivors and grieving relatives are demanding an improved compensation deal after suffering severe adverse reactions to the Oxford-astrazeneca vaccine.

The jab, in very rare cases, caused blood clots and low blood platelet levels that killed patients or left them brain damaged.

Oxford-astrazeneca’s vaccine has been linked to 81 such deaths and hundreds more who came to harm.

Vaccine Injured & Bereaved UK , a campaign group, wrote to Ms Atkins in February requesting a meeting for the “urgent reform” of an existing Government scheme to compensate vaccine victims. Two months later Ms Atkins’ office said she was too busy, in correspondence obtained by The Telegraph, prompting accusations they had been “snubbed”.

Yesterday, Ms Atkins said she was sorry she had no time to meet the group and insisted she was unaware they had made the request.

She told Nick Ferrari on his LBC radio show: “Look, the first I realised of this was when I read it this morning in The Telegraph, and as I say, in fairness, it doesn’t reflect work I’m already doing on this.” She said she had met one grieving family “a few months ago” and two MPS a week ago who had been campaigning for a better compensation deal.

Ms Atkins added: “In relation to that particular group, I hope listeners will understand I have an enormous number of invitations to meet people. I can’t meet everyone, sadly, that I’m invited to meet.”

She said it was a “very fair suggestion” that a junior minister should have been made available to meet the group.

The Government’s vaccine compensation scheme pays a maximum £120,000 to victims’ families or those made seriously ill after a jab.

A separate legal claim is being brought against Astrazeneca by more than 50 patients and their families made ill after having the Covid inoculation, developed in conjunction with the University of Oxford.

The Government pledged to underwrite Astrazeneca’s legal costs as part of its deal when the vaccine was first rolled out in 2021. It has so far refused to intervene in the legal case.

Sources inside the Department for Health and Social Care said that ministers were prevented from meeting victims suing Astrazeneca because they cannot get involved in ongoing legal action.