US Approves First Injury Claim for COVID “Countermeasure,” as Backlog Grows to 4,000+ Claims

By Michael Nevradakis, Ph.D.

The U.S. government program that processes claims for COVID vaccine- and countermeasures-related injuries, the Countermeasures Injury Compensation Program, will issue compensation for its first claim. It’s unknown if the claim is related to a vaccine or some other medication or device related to the diagnosis or treatment of the virus.

The U.S. government program that processes claims for COVID vaccine- and countermeasures-related injuries will issue compensation for its first claim.

According to the Countermeasures Injury Compensation Program (CICP) website, “[o]ne COVID-19 claim has been determined eligible for compensation and is pending a review of eligible expenses.”

The website cites data aggregated by the CICP as of Nov. 1, the most recent date for which information regarding such claims is available as of this writing.

CICP did not reveal the terms of the compensation.

Confirmation of the claim comes almost a year after distribution of the vaccines began and after 965,843 reports of adverse events following COVID vaccines were submitted to the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (as of Dec. 10).

However, it is unclear whether the claim that will be compensated pertains to a reaction to a COVID vaccine, or to some other COVID-related treatment, The Epoch Times reported.

The CICP was established under the aegis of the Public Readiness and Emergency Preparedness (PREP) Act of 2005. The PREP Act was developed to coordinate the response to a “public health emergency.”

The law is scheduled to remain in place until 2024.

The CICP program focuses on countermeasures, such as “a vaccination, medication, device or other item recommended to diagnose, prevent or treat a declared pandemic, epidemic or security threat.”

The CICP allows individuals to claim compensation for lost wages and for medical expenses not fully reimbursed by insurance or government programs, such as Medicaid.

Individuals also can claim death benefits for someone who died as a result of a countermeasure.

The program is run by the Health Resources & Services Administration (HRSA), an agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

It is separate from the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program (VICP), which covers injuries related to vaccines that are routinely administered to children and pregnant women.

The CICP is known for its cumbersome claims process and low likelihood of success for claimants. To date, under 4% of petitioners have been compensated under the program.

A total of $500 million reportedly was appropriated to the CICP for COVID-related claims.

Approval of a single claim magnifies CICP backlog

According to the HRSA’s own figures, from fiscal year 2010 until Nov. 1, a total of 5,242 claims were filed with the CICP.

Of these, 4,751 pertain to COVID, including 2,297 claims related to COVID vaccines, and 2,454 for other countermeasures.

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Via https://childrenshealthdefense.org/defender/injury-covid-countermeasure-backlog-grows/