The Queen’s University Conflict Analysis Laboratory has created a new tool that uses artificial intelligence to determine if clients are eligible for compensation after suffering complications from a vaccine.
the tool, Developed in collaboration with partners at the British Institute of International and Comparative Law, Paris-Dauphine University and Oxford University, it helps people navigate the no-fault compensation schemes that have been established in Canada.
According to the lab, a no-fault vaccine compensation scheme is a “program that provides compensation for injuries to eligible individuals who have experienced adverse effects from a vaccine.”
Eligible compensation types within no-fault compensation schemes include balloon payments or partial payments over time.
In Canada, a Vaccine Injury Support Program (VISP) it was announced in December 2020. Prior to this, Canada was one of the only G7 nations that did not have a nationally established VISP program.
An external administrator was then selected to administer the VISP through an open application process. For the application to be successful, it must meet a set of criteria:
- Licensed vaccine: Anyone who receives a Health Canada licensed vaccine.
- Time frame: Claims can be filed within three years from the date of vaccination, the date of death, or the date an injury first becomes apparent.
- Reported injury: Injury reported to healthcare provider.
- Eligibility date: Vaccination date was December 8, 2020 or later
- Administered in Canada: The vaccine was administered in Canada (exceptions apply)
- Serious and permanent: The injury is serious and permanent or has resulted in death ”
Project leader Avinash Pillay, who is a third-year JD candidate, says the federal program is essentially a “copy and paste” of Quebec’s already established Vaccine Injury Support Program.
“It really doesn’t work that effectively because you can’t just copy and paste the Quebec amount nationwide,” Pillay said. It notes that vaccinationinjurysupport.ca, the website responsible for accepting claims, had not had the ability to submit a claim until three months after the request was formally posted.
Pillay hopes the program will be used as a “go-between” for people who need to submit forms to the Vaccine Injury Support Program. He says the questionnaire can automatically direct people to file a VISP claim and can provide personalized next steps on what to do next.
At the same time, Pillay says they want to use the data to decrease the rate of misinformation and increase the rate of vaccination.
“While we collect all this data, such as user surveys, we conduct research, we do publications, we try to publish such as medical journals, law journals, etc., so that we can decrease the misinformation rate and increase the vaccination rate,” Pillay said in an interview with YGK News.
The Public Health Agency of Canada says that RCGT Consulting, the independent third-party administrator of the Vaccine Injury Support Program, has not yet begun to publicly report the claims received.
“[RCGT Consulting] will begin regular public reporting on the number of claims received and the number of claims resulting in compensation later this year, ”Alexander Beattie of the Public Health Agency of Canada told YGK News.
The agency says its long-standing alignment with Quebec’s vaccine injury compensation campaign “strengthen national immunization campaigns by ensuring fair and equitable access to support all vaccinated people in Canada ”.
Reference-ygknews.ca