The federal government added $36.4 million to a program designed to support individuals who have suffered serious injuries or died as a result of vaccines since the end of 2020.

The program was announced shortly after Covid-19 vaccines were first made available to the public, and it provides financial compensation to individuals negatively affected by vaccines approved by Health Canada.

The Liberals allocated $75 million during the first five years of the program. So far, a private company called Oxaro has received $56.2 million from Ottawa to run the program and pay valid claims arising outside of Quebec.

As of December, the company had paid out $11.2 million in compensation.

Quebec has had its own vaccine injury compensation program since 1985 and received $7.75 million when the federal program was launched.

The Liberal government allocated an additional $36 million to Oxaro and Quebec to cover the next two years of the program as part of the federal budget presented in the House of Commons last week.

Public Health Agency of Canada stated it contracted the work to Oxaro to ensure the neutrality of the claims process.

A spokesperson for the department said in a statement, "Oxaro operates independently and at arm's length from PHAC."

"This means that PHAC is not involved in the delivery of the program, including the assessment of claims or the appeals of claims."

The spokesperson noted that the cost of the program depends on the number of individuals applying for compensation.

As of December, Oxaro had received 2,233 claims and approved 138 of them.

The available statistics do not specify which vaccines were involved.

The program was launched during the Covid-19 pandemic, but it covers injuries and deaths related to vaccines approved for any disease, as long as they were administered after December 8, 2020.

At that time, officials confirmed that serious adverse reactions to the vaccine are very rare—affecting fewer than one in a million people—but the government has a duty to assist in the event of an adverse reaction.

Less than a year later, Ottawa made it mandatory to be vaccinated against Covid-19 for air or train travel, or to work in federal public service.

To be eligible for compensation, the patient or beneficiary must be able to demonstrate they suffered a severe, life-threatening, or life-altering injury that resulted in ongoing or significant disability or death.

More than 105 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines have been administered since December 14, 2020, with 0.01 percent resulting in serious adverse effects, according to data from Health Canada.

Among the 488 reported deaths following vaccination for Covid-19, four were directly linked to the vaccinations, as noted in the latest report from Health Canada.

Quebec saw an increase in claims for the vaccine injury compensation program during the pandemic, from one claim in 2020 to 98 in 2021 and 2022.

As of March 2023, only three of these cases had been approved for compensation.