FOI-03530

Thank you for your request for information about the following: 

<strong>Request</strong>

You asked us:

<i>‘Could you please give me the latest data for the following questions. Current data is only available to June 2025. 

It is assumed that claims are submitted by a parent, relative or guardian, especially in the case of death. If this is not the case, please state:

1.	How many claims has the VDPS received in the 0-19 year-old age range?
2.	Can you please break that down into the following age ranges: 
<br>0-27 days
<br>1 month to 11 months
<br>1 to 2 years
<br>3 to 5 years
<br>6 to 10 years
<br>11 to 14 years
<br>15 to 19 years
3.	How many claims were for permanent injury, broken down by above age range*?
4.	How many claims were for death, broken down by above age range*?
5.	If there are other categories outside permanent injury or death, what are they?
6.	How many claimants in the 0-19 year-old age range were successful in their claims and how many claims were rejected.
7.	How many 0-19 year-old claimants have been notified of an outcome?
8.	How many 0-19 year-old claimants are still waiting for an outcome?
9.	What is the average timescale delivering an outcome. i.e. average 6 months to reach a final decision.

If there are less than 5, please indicate using <5. If there are zero in a specific age range, please state.’</i>

<strong>You clarified your response on 19 January 2026:</strong>

<i>‘I am only interested in covid vaccinations. I believe these were made available to teenagers and under from June 2021 so I am interested in figures from the date covid vaccines were made available to the below age groups.’ </i>

The NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA) received your request on 15 January 2026. As your request needed to be clarified, under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) 2000 the time limit for reply begins when we received your clarification on 19 January 2026. 

We have handled your request under FOIA.

<strong>Our response</strong>

I can confirm that the NHSBSA holds the information you have requested. All data is as of 31 December 2025 and relates to COVID-19 vaccine claims only.

Please note:
<ul>
<li>we have excluded claims where the child is claimed to be disabled after the mother's vaccination
<li>we have provided data for children who were up to 19 years and 364 days old to cover the requested “0 to 19 year old age range”
<li>we have used the child’s age at the time the claim was received, not at the time the vaccine was administered</ul>

<strong>Question 1 - How many claims has the VDPS received in the 0-19 year-old age range?</strong>

I can confirm that the NHSBSA holds the information you have requested.

We’ve received 203 claims where the vaccinated person was 0 to 19 years old at the time the claim was submitted.
			
<strong>Question 2 - Can you please break that down into the following age ranges:</strong>	

I can confirm that the NHSBSA holds the information you have requested. However, we are not able to provide the data in the requested age breakdowns. This is because in most of the age brackets you requested, the information would be exempt as it would produce a fewer than five figure. 

<strong>Fewer than five</strong>

Please be aware that I have decided not to release the full details where the total number of individuals falls below five or has increased by fewer than five since we last answered this request. This is because the information is exempt under section 40(2) of the FOIA (personal information).

This is because it would breach the first data protection principle as:

a) it is not fair to disclose individual’s personal details to the world and is likely to cause damage or distress<br><br>
b)  these details are not of sufficient interest to the public to warrant an intrusion into the privacy of the individual

Please see the following link to view the section 40 exemption in full: 
https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2000/36/section/40 

<strong>Breach of Confidentiality</strong>

Please note that the identification of individuals is also a breach of the common law duty of confidence. An individual who has been identified could make a claim against the NHSBSA for the disclosure of the confidential information.

The information requested is therefore being withheld as it falls under the exemption in section 41(1) ‘Information provided in confidence’ of the FOIA.

Please click the below web link to see the exemption in full: 
https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2000/36/section/41

<strong>Revised age breakdown</strong>

Under the FOIA, we have considered the information we are able to provide. 

As providing a full breakdown of all age ranges would allow the withheld figures to be worked out, we have grouped adjacent age bands until the combined figure is large enough to publish without indirect disclosure of withheld figures.
<ul>
<li>there have been 0 claims received where the vaccinated person was 0 to 27 days old 
<li>there have been 11 claims received where the vaccinated person was 1 month to 10 years old
<li>there have been 19 claims received where the vaccinated person was 11 to 14 years old
<li>there have been 173 claims received where the vaccinated person was 15 to 19 years old</ul>
			
<strong>Question 3 - How many claims were for permanent injury, broken down by above age range*?	</strong>

Under the FOIA, we are required to consider whether we hold information that answers your request. 

The NHSBSA does not hold this information.

To provide it, we would need to create new information by reviewing medical records for all claims and categorise whether they relate to a permanent injury. 

Reviewing the medical records in this way would require someone with medical expertise to assess this. As a review would involve expert medical judgement, it cannot be carried out by a non-medical person due to lack of medical expertise.

Therefore for these reasons, under the FOIA the requested information is not held by the NHSBSA.

However, the NHSBSA can provide a breakdown of claims received for the following age bands. This data excludes claims on behalf of someone who has died. 

As explained in our response to question 2, providing a full breakdown of all age ranges would allow the withheld figures to be calculated. The information in the age breakdown requested is therefore considered to be exempt under section 40(2) and section 41 of the FOIA.

We have therefore considered how the information could be grouped in adjacent age bands until the combined figure is large enough to publish without indirect disclosure of withheld figures.

Of those claims that have received an outcome (excluding claims submitted on behalf of someone who has died):
<ul>
<li>there have been 6 claims received where the vaccinated person was 0 to 10 years
<li>there have been 9 claims received where the vaccinated person was 11 to 14 years
<li>there have been 120 claims received where the vaccinated person was 15 to 19 years</ul>

<strong>Question 4 - How many claims were for death, broken down by above age range*?</strong>
			
Medical assessors are not responsible for determining a cause of death. 

The assessors weigh up all available evidence to see if, on the balance of probabilities, a vaccine caused severe disablement (60% or more).

Medical assessors write a medical assessment report for each claim. Their medical assessment report explains how they reached their decision and the evidence considered. 

Under the Vaccine Damage Payments Act 1979, a claimant does not need to prove that the vaccine definitely caused the disablement – only that it is more likely than not. This is known as “on the balance of probabilities”.

Some figures have been replaced with an asterisk (*) as the information is being withheld under the exemptions explained above.

Of those claims that have received an outcome:
<ul>
<li>there have been 0 claims received where the vaccinated person was 0 to 10 years	
<li>there have been * claims received where the vaccinated person was 11 to 19 years </ul>
			
<strong>Question 5 - If there are other categories outside permanent injury or death, what are they?</strong>

There are no other categories. The data provided in question 3 and question 4 relate to claimants who have received an outcome.  
			
<strong>Question 6 - How many claimants in the 0-19 year-old age range were successful in their claims and how many claims were rejected.</strong>

I can confirm that the NHSBSA holds the information you have requested, however this information is being withheld under the exemptions explained above.

Providing the figures for this question would allow the awarded claims to be calculated based on other information provided within this response. The NHSBSA is therefore withholding this information under section 40(2) and section 41 of the FOIA.
			
<strong>Question 7 - How many 0-19 year-old claimants have been notified of an outcome?</strong>

I can confirm that the NHSBSA holds the information you have requested, however this information is being withheld under the exemptions explained above.

Providing the figure for this question would allow the withheld figure for Question 3 to be calculated. The NHSBSA is therefore withholding the number of 0 to 19 year old claimants notified of an outcome under section 40(2) and section 41 of the FOIA.
			
<strong>Question 8 - How many 0-19 year-old claimants are still waiting for an outcome?</strong>

I can confirm that the NHSBSA holds the information you have requested. There are 65 claimants to the scheme who are awaiting an outcome. 

The length of time it takes to progress a claim to the medical assessment stage depends on how long it takes for the healthcare providers listed on the claim form to send medical records to us. We’re working with healthcare providers to speed up their response times to requests for medical records. 
			
<strong>Question 9 - What is the average timescale delivering an outcome. i.e. average 6 months to reach a final decision.</strong>

I can confirm that the NHSBSA holds the information you have requested. 
 
Please note that the answer only refers to claims processed to an outcome by NHSBSA. 
 
The length of time it takes to progress a claim to the medical assessment stage depends on how long it takes for the healthcare providers listed on the claim form to send medical records to us. We’re working with healthcare providers to speed up their response times to requests for medical records. 
 
Between 1 November 2021 to 31 December 2025, the mean average time from receiving a claim to a medical assessor outcome being communicated was 281 days. This covers all accepted and rejected claims.

<strong>Data Queries</strong>

Please contact <a href=mailto:foirequests@nhsbsa.nhs.uk>foirequests@nhsbsa.nhs.uk</a>  ensuring you quote the above reference if you have any specific questions regarding this response; or, if you feel you may be misunderstanding or misinterpreting the information; or, if you plan on publishing the data.

<strong>Reusing the data and copyright</strong>

If you plan on producing a press or broadcast story based upon the data please contact <a href=mailto:communicationsteam@nhsbsa.nhs.uk>communicationsteam@nhsbsa.nhs.uk</a>. This is important to ensure that the figures are not misunderstood or misrepresented.

The information supplied to you continues to be protected by the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 and is subject to NHSBSA copyright. This information is licenced under the terms of the Open Government Licence detailed at: http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/

Should you wish to re-use the information you must include the following statement: “NHSBSA Copyright 2026” This information is licenced under the terms of the Open Government Licence:<br>
http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/

Failure to do so is a breach of the terms of the licence.

Information you receive which is not subject to NHSBSA Copyright continues to be protected by the copyright of the person, or organisation, from which the information originated. Please obtain their permission before reproducing any third party (non NHSBSA Copyright) information.
 


Tags: NHSBSA corporate, VDPS, Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme, nhsbsa
Organization: Freedom of Information Disclosure Log