An Australian father who suffered a serious injury from the Covid vaccine, forcing him to give up his “dream job”, has slammed the government’s treatment of people who reacted negatively to the vaccine.
Chris Nemeth, 51, worked in airline logistics until he received the AstraZeneca vaccine in July 2021 and developed chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy (CIPD), which can cause numbness, pain and even paralysis in the limbs.
It took more than 455 days for his thorough 1,000-page application to the Covid-19 Vaccine Claims Scheme to be assessed, including documentation from a GP and a specialist who attributed the permanent condition to his Covid vaccination.
Mr Nemeth said the scheme, which was set up to support those who had done their bit and been vaccinated but were injured, was a bureaucratic nightmare.
The Melbourne resident, who receives intravenous immunoglobulin infusion therapy every three weeks in hospital alongside painkillers, warned that “suicides” could occur because the process under the claims scheme was so onerous.
“I had to learn to walk again, I still have neuropathy in my hands and feet – tingling, burning, pins and needles, fatigue, my brain doesn’t work like it used to… the neurologist said this is the best I’ll ever be,” he told Daily Mail Australia.
Despite being unable to work and supporting a family since 2021, he said he faced obstacles through the claims process and was repeatedly denied his application for more information or external legal assessments.
Mr. Nemeth said he was only offered a settlement of his claim this month, but he did not disclose the exact amount.
Chris Nemeth suffered from chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy (CIPD), a form of Guillain-Barré syndrome after the AstraZeneca vaccine and requires an intravenous immunoglobulin infusion every three weeks
The program, which is run by Services Australia on behalf of the Department of Health, has paid out a total of $29.8 million to 378 successful applications, with 663 applications still pending.
A government spokesperson said the scheme will expire on September 30, but that all applications received before then will still be processed.
Mr Nemeth said the scheme needed to be reviewed because “there will be no more support” once it closes.
‘I was paralyzed from the waist down for six months, then had to use a walker and then a cane.
‘My way of walking has changed, I have to think about it (walking), it’s like driving an automatic and then switching to a manual car.
“It changes everything in your life.”
The world’s largest Covid-19 vaccine trial published earlier this year found possible links between the AstraZeneca vaccine and certain medical conditions, but these were rare cases.
The research from the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute (MCRI) and published in Vaccine, used an electronic database to harness large amounts of data to evaluate the safety of the Covid vaccine.
The largest study of its kind involved more than 99 million people from Australia, Argentina, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, New Zealand and Scotland.
Mr Nemeth said the programme, which was set up to provide support to those who had done their part and been vaccinated but were injured, was a bureaucratic nightmare
The analysis found that there was evidence that vaccine safety was warranted in myocarditis (inflammation of the heart muscle) and pericarditis (swelling of the thin sac covering the heart) following mRNA vaccines.
A possible link with Guillain-Barré syndrome (where the immune system attacks the nerves) and cerebral venous sinus thrombosis (a type of blood clot in the brain) has been identified with the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine.
The study also yielded a new signal for acute disseminated encephalomyelitis (inflammation and swelling in the brain and spinal cord). According to the researchers, this signal is worth further investigation.
“The findings amount to an extremely small risk, with any potential link needing to be weighed against the well-known protective benefits of vaccination against Covid,” said lead researcher Professor Jim Buttery.
Daily Mail Australia has contacted AstraZeneca, Services Australia and the Therapeutic Goods Administration via the Department of Health for comment.