Back to SearchKFL&A Board of Health Issues Resolution for No-fault Compensation for Adverse Effects Following Immunization
For immediate release
Tuesday, May 7, 2019
KINGSTON – Vaccination is among public health’s greatest achievements in terms of reducing the illness and death associated with disease. Vaccines are safe and effective, but like any medicine, they can cause side effects. There were approximately 8 million doses of vaccine distributed in Ontario in 2016, resulting in 19 serious adverse events being reported. This represents about 2 serious adverse events in every 1 million doses distributed.
Serious adverse events after vaccination are very rare. Despite this, the Kingston, Frontenac, and Lennox & Addington (KFL&A) Board of Health is advocating for no-fault compensation for adverse effects following immunization.
“The number of individuals who experience adverse events as a result of vaccination is extremely low; unfortunately, these individuals bear the burden of adverse events in the service of a public good,” said Dr. Kieran Moore, Medical Officer of Health, KFL&A Public Health. “Endorsement of this resolution is an initial step towards supporting a means to compensate individuals injured in the course of receiving immunizations”.
During the Board of Health meeting on April 24, 2019, the Board made a commitment to support a program of no-fault compensation for adverse outcomes following routine immunizations in Ontario.
KFL&A Public Health will also lead in supporting no-fault compensation for adverse effects following immunization resolution to be endorsed by the Association of Local Public Health Agencies (alPHa) at its 2019 Annual General Meeting held in Kingston, from June 9 to 12, 2019.
Resolution for no-fault compensation for adverse effects following immunization
That the KFL&A Board of Health endorse the following resolution and furthermore, present it for endorsement by alPHa during the 2019 Annual General Meeting;
WHEREAS routine immunization programmes are a significant part of public health practice and an important tool to protect the health of the public from the incidence and severity of vaccine-preventable diseases; and
WHEREAS serious adverse events following immunizations are much less likely to occur than similar adverse events following infection with vaccine preventable diseases, but will rarely occur after approximately 1 in 1,000,000 immunizations; and
WHEREAS in Canada, few individuals will bear the burden of serious adverse events for the communal benefit of the population; and
WHEREAS serious adverse events occur in spite of best practices being followed by health care providers and vaccine manufacturers; and
WHEREAS the Canadian legal system lacks an appropriate mechanism to provide individuals with compensation and this does not meet the ethical principle of reciprocity; and
WHEREAS no-fault compensation programs are increasingly regarded as a component of a successful vaccination program as an expression of community solidarity in which members of a community do not bear the risks of vaccination alone; and
WHEREAS Canada stands alone among the G7 countries as the only jurisdiction without a national publicly administered no-fault vaccine compensation program; and
WHEREAS Quebec is the only province or territory in Canada that has no-fault compensation for AEFIs; and
WHEREAS providing access to a fair reasonable process for compensation of serious adverse events weakens the argument against vaccination; and
WHEREAS no-fault compensation programs can quickly, effectively, and consistently make awards that are proportional to the serious adverse event
NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED THAT the Association of Local Public Health Agencies (alPHa) call upon the Chief Medical Officer of Health of Ontario and the Minister of Health and Long-Term Care to institute a program of no-fault compensation for adverse outcomes following immunization.
AND FURTHER that the Association of Local Public Health Agencies (alPHa) call upon the Chief Medical Officer of Health of Ontario and the Minister of Health and Long-Term Care to call upon their counterparts across Canada as well as their Federal counterparts to institute a National system of no-fault compensation for adverse outcomes following immunization.
AND FURTHER that the Minister of Health and Long-Term Care, and the Chief Medical Officer of Health for Ontario, as well as the provincial, territorial, and federal Ministers of Health and Chief Medical Officers of Health be so advised.
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