Father with blood clot sues AstraZeneca over Covid vaccine

Jamie Scott developed a blood clot that forced him to stop working after being given the jab

The majority of payouts made under the vaccine damage payment scheme were received by those who were given the AstraZeneca jab.. Getty Images

A man who was left with brain damage after receiving the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine is suing the pharmaceutical company, claiming it overstated the drug’s efficiency.

Jamie Scott, a father of two, developed a blood clot that forced him to stop working after being given the jab in April 2021.

His lawyers claim he suffered “personal injuries and consequential losses arising out of his sustaining vaccine-induced immune thrombosis with thrombocytopenia (VITT)“, a rare but known side effect of the vaccine, which was developed with the University of Oxford.

About two weeks before he received the shot, the Joint Committee on Immunisation and Vaccine said all adults under 30 should receive an alternative vaccine because of the risk. A month later, the advice was amended to adults under the age of 40. Mr Scott was 44 at the time of his inoculation.

In the claim, first reported by The Telegraph, his lawyers say there was no warning of the risk of VITT in the product information when he received the vaccine. They also claim the efficiency in preventing symptomatic Covid-19 was lower than the 70 per cent relative risk stated following clinical trials.

The claim states: “In fact, the absolute risk reduction concerning Covid-19 prevention was only 1.2 per cent.”

In the summer of 2022, the World Health Organisation said the vaccine was “safe and effective for all individuals aged 18 and above”. A study from the same year found that the vaccine saved six million lives.

But figures show the vast majority, more than 144 out of the 148 £120,000 payouts made under the vaccine damage payment scheme, were received by those who were given the AstraZeneca jab.

Mr Scott's wife, Kate, said: “We have been lobbying the government for 18 months for fair compensation for the injury caused by the vaccine.” She added in an open letter: “Our legal case will seek to hold AstraZeneca to account but we need to build a significant fighting fund to get justice.”

AstraZeneca told The Times: “Patient safety is our highest priority and regulatory authorities have clear and stringent standards to ensure the safe use of all medicines, including vaccines.

“From the body of evidence in clinical trials and real-world data, the vaccine has continuously been shown to have an acceptable safety profile and regulators around the world consistently state that the benefits of vaccination outweigh the risks of extremely rare potential side effects.”