A compensation plan could be established for thousands of people who were disabled by the AstraZeneca blow

He pharmaceutical giant is being sued in a class-action lawsuit over claims that the vaccine, developed with the University of Oxford, caused death and serious injury in dozens of cases. The Government has indemnified AstraZeneca against any legal action, but has so far refused to intervene.

Sir Jeremy Wright MP, the shadow attorney general, attended the meeting with Streeting and VIBUK last month and has another follow-up meeting with him scheduled for the coming weeks.

“The two options are to reform the VDPS and also establish a customized compensation plan,” he said. “But it is not an option for the government to bury its head in the sand and do nothing.

“If you are a very small minority of those injured (by the Covid vaccine), those people have a right to expect the State to care for them properly – they were just doing what the State asked them to do.”

More than 15,000 people have requested compensation from the VDPS for alleged damage caused by Covid vaccines, according to the latest official figures.

Of the 15,804 claims made to the VDPS by people who suffered an adverse reaction to the Covid vaccine, only 188 were told they were entitled to compensation.

The figures, which were released by the Government following freedom of information requests, show that the vast majority of successful applications relate to the AstraZeneca vaccine and fewer than five relate to Pfizer and Moderna.

Payments have been awarded for conditions including stroke, heart attack, dangerous blood clots, inflammation of the spinal cord, excessive swelling of the vaccinated limb, and facial paralysis.

Activists argue that the VDPS does not adequately compensate those who have suffered serious side effects from Covid vaccines and have been left unable to work.

The VDPS provides a one-off tax-free payment of £120,000 to people who have been seriously injured and the families of those who have died as a result of vaccination against certain diseases, including Covid. To be eligible for the payment, people must be 60 percent disabled.

Charlet Crichton, who founded the UKCVFamily charity, which supports those who have suffered side effects from Covid vaccines, said: “We are optimistic that the new government is supporting its vaccine-wounded and distressed constituents and we look forward to reforming the plan.

“We are calling for a complete review of the plan. “There are too many things wrong with the current plan for it to be viable.”

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: “Our deepest sympathies are with those who have suffered harm.

“The Secretary of State has met with families to hear their concerns and agreed that the government will look at them closely as we continue to learn and apply the lessons of the pandemic.”