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A government program tasked with compensating injuries linked to COVID-19 vaccines and other countermeasures has approved four additional claims, including one death benefit, according to newly released federal data.
The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) reported in its June update that the Countermeasures Injury Compensation Program (CICP) has compensated 60 of 7,407 adjudicated claims, while denying 7,298.
The denial rate is more than 98%, according to the report.
The latest figures mark only the third death-related claim paid since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to program tracking cited by researcher Wayne Rohde, author of two books on federal vaccine injury compensation.
As of June, the program has received 14,152 total claims. Of those, 6,745 are pending review or in review, while a decision has been reached on 7,407. HRSA reports 109 claims have been deemed eligible for compensation, though only 60 have resulted in payment totalling $7.45 million.
Most denials were issued on procedural or evidentiary grounds, including missed filing deadlines and failure to submit medical records or meet the program’s standard of proof for covered injury.
‘Insultingly low payouts’
Legal experts say the program’s structure makes approval difficult under existing rules.
Attorney Ray Flores is representing two women injured by COVID-19 vaccines in a case supported by Children’s Health Defense (CHD). The women sued HRSA for denying their claims, due in part to restrictive policies.
“So long as the HHS Secretary’s COVID-19 PREP Act protections remain in place at least through the end of this decade, insultingly low payouts will remain the norm,” Flores said. “Currently, COVID-19-vaccine injuries are compensated as non-table injuries, so the burden is placed on the applicant to prove causation.”
The Public Readiness and Emergency Preparedness Act (PREP Act) of 2005 provides liability protection for manufacturers, distributors and healthcare providers involved in the development and administration of medical countermeasures during public health emergencies.
The PREP Act also established the CICP as a federal compensation mechanism for individuals who suffer serious injury or death directly caused by a covered countermeasure.
Flores argued that there are two major issues faced by potential CICP claimants: those injured by vaccines may not know about the program, and to qualify for compensation, the claimant has to be gravely injured.
“Not only are most of the injured unaware of the CICP program and its one-year deadline to file, but approximately 90% of the injured do not qualify to be able to file an application since they did not suffer death or serious bodily injury,” Flores said.
CICP denial rate remains above 98%
The CICP’s denial rate has remained consistently high.
Earlier HRSA data showed that of 6,944 claims adjudicated as of April 1, only 51 had been compensated, while 6,847 had been denied.
A report prepared by a federal work group called for a broad overhaul of tracking COVID-19 vaccine injuries earlier this year.
The confidential draft prepared for the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices’ COVID-19 Immunization Workgroup urges federal health officials to formally recognize and track what it describes as post-acute COVID-19 vaccination syndrome, or PACVS.
The report argues that some patients experience persistent, multi-system symptoms following COVID-19 vaccination and that the lack of diagnostic codes, clinical guidance and surveillance systems has led to underrecognition and inadequate care.
“Immediate actions must be taken to rectify the failure to recognize and track PACVS,” the authors wrote, while acknowledging that “knowledge on PACVS is still evolving and significant knowledge gaps still exist.”
The report recommends that ACIP consider creating dedicated ICD-10 diagnostic codes for PACVS, developing clinical guidelines for diagnosis and treatment, and establishing an international research and surveillance network focused on PACVS and long COVID.
ACIP, however, has been in legal limbo.
Earlier this year, U.S. District Judge Brian Murphy issued an injunction blocking many of the recent ACIP appointments made under U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
The directive derived from a lawsuit filed by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) against Kennedy and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). The AAP accused Kennedy of violating procedures when he fired previous ACIP members and replaced them.
The ruling effectively immobilized ACIP. Last week, the Trump administration asked the court to expedite its appeal of the ruling, arguing that the “court’s order has left ACIP unable to carry out its core responsibilities.”
Requests for comment from ACIP went unanswered.
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CICP faces legal challenges
The federal compensation system for COVID-19 vaccines has become the focus of legal challenges.
Federal law provides two main compensation systems for vaccine-related injuries: the CICP, which covers COVID-19 vaccine injuries and other injuries from “covered countermeasures,” and the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program (VICP), which covers injuries related to vaccines, including childhood vaccines, routinely recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
In a February filing, plaintiff Jeanne Materese sued HHS, arguing that COVID-19 vaccines should have been moved into the VICP. Because they remain under the CICP framework, claimants face shorter deadlines and fewer procedural protections.
The government moved to dismiss the case, arguing that the CICP remains an adequate alternative remedy, even when claimants are no longer eligible due to expired filing deadlines.
While VICP covers routinely recommended vaccines and offers broader categories of damages including pain, suffering and attorney fees, the CICP imposes narrower eligibility rules and stricter requirements.
CICP claimants must file within 12 months of injury, and compensation is restricted to unreimbursed medical expenses, limited lost wages capped at $50,000 per year, and a one-time death benefit of $370,376 as of 2021. The program doesn’t cover pain and suffering or legal fees. And decisions are not subject to judicial review.
Rohde believes the program’s framework has led to a decrease in claimants.
“One could conclude that the reason for the sharp decrease in petition filings is the result of news and knowledge about the poor structure of the program to compensate the injured,” he said, adding they do not include pain and suffering.
By contrast, VICP has processed more than 28,000 petitions as of February 2025. While 24,602 claims have been adjudicated, 12,931 were determined ineligible and 11,659 were considered eligible, resulting in a compensation rate of 47%.
Christopher Dreisbach, legal affairs director at React19, said the latest figures come as “no surprise” due to the CICP’s “myriad structural flaws.”
“What should be done differently is clear,” he said. “Congress should move COVID-19 vaccine injuries into the Vaccine Injury Compensation Program, where claimants have access to a more established system with greater due process protections, attorney and expert fee reimbursement, and more robust benefits.”
The latest HSRA report appeared in the same month the CDC awarded Pfizer $1.24 billion for two federal grants for COVID-19 vaccinations for children and adults.
The HRSA did not respond to requests for comment.
Related articles in The Defender
- Nearly 10,000 Claims Pending as COVID Vaccine Injury Compensation Program Faces Possible Budget Cut
- ‘Insult to Kangaroo Courts’: Lawsuit Takes Aim at Federal Program for Compensating COVID Vaccine Injuries
- Breaking: Government Program for Compensating COVID Vaccine Injuries Is ‘Unconstitutional,’ Lawsuit Alleges
- Over 1.5 Million People Who Reported COVID Vaccine Injuries Shut Out From Applying for Compensation
