Doesn't the vaccine injury compensation program prove vaccines hurt people?
Here is what the checked sources say. Each title links to the original.
Vaccine Injury Compensation Data
HRSA, which runs the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program, says most vaccine side effects are mild and that very rarely people have more serious ones, such as allergic reactions; the program lets them file a claim. HRSA says an award does not necessarily mean the vaccine caused the injury: about 60% of all compensation awarded comes from negotiated settlements in which HHS has not concluded the vaccine was the cause. The page does not say whether that share counts awards or dollars. Settlements limit the risk, time and cost of going to court.
National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program Data Report (updated September 1, 2026)
The program's own numbers, updated September 1, 2026. For petitions filed from 2006 to 2024, when about 5.65 billion doses of covered vaccines were distributed in the US, the court decided 15,108 and compensated 11,152: 4,045 where the government agreed compensation was owed, 542 by court decision, and 6,565 by settlement. The report calls this about 1 compensated claim per million doses; its own figures give about 2. That counts compensated claims per dose distributed, not injuries per person or anyone's chance of injury. About $5.6 billion has been paid since 1988.
Compensation for vaccine injury claims can be awarded even without proof that the vaccine caused the injury
An April 2021 Science Feedback fact-check of an ad saying the government had paid over $4.5 billion for vaccine injuries. It agrees the figure was accurate but calls the claim misleading without context. The program is a no-fault alternative to ordinary lawsuits. About 60% of compensation came through settlements, which do not determine whether the vaccine caused the injury. As of 2021, it said more than half of compensation in recent years was for claimed shoulder injuries caused by how the shot was given (SIRVA), which it describes as unrelated to the vaccine's contents.