Vikki Spit wins first AstraZeneca vaccine compensation settlement after fiancé’s death

Vikki Spit, who shared a home with her fiancé Zion in Alston, was awarded the maximum settlement of £120,000 - but has argued this doesn’t go far enough.

Zion fell ill eight days after receiving the vaccine and tragically died in May 2021 – but his organs would go on to help three families keep their loved ones.

Vikki said the paramedics who attended Zion, despite the window for a blood clot being four to 28 days post-vaccination, did not recognise that his headache symptoms could be linked to the AstraZeneca vaccine, and that consequently, Zion did not receive the appropriate tests and treatment.

ARTISTS: Zion and Vikki Spit were both members of glam-punk band SPiT LiKE THiS.

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The NHS Business Services Authority (the administrators of the compensation scheme) accepted this cause of death over a year later, on June 17.

'I am still heartbroken'

Vikki is now calling on the government to increase the maximum compensation amount to better reflect current conditions and represent the loss of earnings that a person in their forties would have made before their retirement – with the maximum figure for compensation being £120,000, it’s argued that it has failed to match inflation rates – which would equate to £180,000 now.

"I am still heartbroken by the sudden loss of my partner of 21 years, and alongside this emotional trauma, I have also been faced with financial hardship as a result of the loss of Zion’s contribution to household finances.

"The £120,000 payment from the Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme does not begin to cover the loss of earnings that a person in their forties would have made before they retired.

"There just isn’t the proper financial aid coming from the government to support those who have lost family to the vaccine,” she said.

Vikki says no amount of money can replace Zion.

"I call upon the NHS Business Services Authority and government to work together to create a Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme that is fit for 2022.

"The maximum award has fallen well short of inflation, even before the current cost-of-living crisis, and the time taken to make a claim must be shortened; no one should be out of pocket because a loved one died as a result of a vaccination,” she said.  

James Bell, medical negligence partner at Hodge Jones & Allen said: "While I am glad that Vikki has been able to receive some restitution for the hardship she has faced as a result of Zion’s death, the scheme simply isn’t fit for purpose.

"The Vaccine Damage Repayment Scheme needs to be urgently updated and re-thought.

"Not only has the application process been lengthy and inefficient, but the compensation Vikki received fails to reflect and remediate the full economic impact of her fiancée’s death.”

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