A vaccine injury claim is a request for compensation from the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program (VICP), a federal program that pays people injured by covered vaccines. Claims are filed as petitions in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims under 42 U.S.C. § 300aa-10 and the sections that follow, not in a Virginia state court.
Blank Kim Injury Law helps people across Northern Virginia who were injured after vaccines given at pharmacies, doctors’ offices, workplace clinics and schools. Our attorneys work from our Fairfax office on Chain Bridge Road, and the case review can be done by phone. Attorney Robert Kim speaks Korean, and our paralegal team speaks Spanish.
How the federal vaccine injury program works
The VICP is a no-fault system. You do not have to prove that the vaccine maker or the person who gave the shot did anything wrong. You have to show that a covered vaccine caused your injury, or that your injury matches the program’s criteria for a presumed vaccine injury.
- Petition. A petition, with medical records, is filed in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims in Washington, D.C.
- Government review. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services reviews the medical records and takes a position on whether the claim should be paid.
- Special master. A judicial officer called a special master manages the case, reviews evidence and, if the parties do not resolve it, decides whether the injury is compensable and what the award includes.
- Resolution. Many claims are resolved by agreement once the medical picture is clear. Contested claims can require expert opinion reports from physicians and a hearing.
Most of the work is done in writing, and hearings can be held by video or in locations convenient to the petitioner, so you do not need to travel to Washington for most of the process.
Common vaccine injuries
Serious reactions to vaccines are uncommon, but they do happen. The injuries most often seen in vaccine claims include:
- Shoulder injury related to vaccine administration (SIRVA). Lasting shoulder pain and loss of motion, usually caused when a shot is given too high on the arm, into the shoulder joint rather than the muscle.
- Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS). An immune reaction that attacks the nerves, causing weakness, numbness and sometimes paralysis.
- Anaphylaxis. A severe allergic reaction within minutes to hours of a shot.
- Transverse myelitis. Inflammation of the spinal cord that can cause weakness and loss of sensation.
- Chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy (CIDP). Long-term nerve damage related to GBS.
- Immune thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP). A drop in blood platelets that causes bruising and bleeding.
- Brachial neuritis. Nerve inflammation causing pain and weakness in the shoulder and arm.
SIRVA is especially common after flu shots given at pharmacies and workplace clinics, where vaccines are often given quickly to people who are standing or wearing layered clothing. Nerve injuries such as GBS overlap with the kind of harm covered on our nerve damage page.
Table injuries and off-table injuries
The program uses a Vaccine Injury Table that lists covered vaccines, specific injuries and the time frames in which they must appear after vaccination. If your injury is on the table and began within the listed time frame, causation is generally presumed, and the government must show another cause to defeat the claim.
An injury that is not on the table, or that began outside the listed window, can still be compensated, but you must prove the vaccine caused it. That usually requires a medical theory of how the vaccine causes the injury, a logical sequence connecting the two in your case, and a timing that fits. Physicians give expert opinion reports to meet that standard.
Which vaccines are covered, and what the table says, change from time to time by federal rule. We check the version that applies to your vaccination date.
Vaccine injury filing deadlines
The VICP deadlines are set by federal law in 42 U.S.C. § 300aa-16, and they are not the same as Virginia’s two-year personal injury rule:
| Type of claim | General deadline |
|---|---|
| Injury | Three years from the first symptom or manifestation of the injury |
| Death | Two years from the death, and within four years of the first symptom of the injury that led to it |
The three-year clock starts with the first symptom, not the diagnosis. A person with shoulder pain that began the day after a flu shot, but who was not diagnosed with SIRVA until much later, is measured from that first day of pain. Write down when your symptoms began, and keep your vaccination record.
Vaccines and claims outside the VICP
Not every vaccine is covered by the VICP. Vaccines given under a federal public health emergency declaration, including the COVID-19 vaccines, have been handled by a separate federal countermeasures program with different rules, much shorter deadlines and more limited benefits. If your injury followed one of those vaccines, the timing questions are urgent.
For covered vaccines, federal law generally requires an injured person to go through the VICP before bringing a civil lawsuit against a vaccine manufacturer or the provider who gave the shot. Separate from the vaccine itself, a provider who injured you through ordinary carelessness, such as giving a shot to someone with a documented allergy, raises questions we also review. See our pages on medication errors and medical malpractice in Virginia.
What a strong vaccine injury claim needs
- Proof of vaccination: the pharmacy or clinic record showing the vaccine, date and arm
- Medical records from before the vaccination, to show your condition was new
- Records showing when symptoms began and every visit since
- Imaging, nerve studies and neurology or orthopedic evaluations that confirm the diagnosis
- Records of lost work and out-of-pocket costs
- For a death, the death certificate and autopsy findings where available
A VICP award can include compensation for medical and rehabilitation costs, lost earnings, and pain and suffering, and the Act sets limits on some categories. What a claim includes depends on the injury, how long it lasts and its effect on your work and life. Children injured by vaccines are handled through the same program, with a parent filing on the child’s behalf.
