Julian Scholfield says he has done everything he can to protect himself and his family from the coronavirus.
The BC man says he got his first Pfizer shot in May 2021. Six months later, he went back for his second shot and said everything was fine, adding that he didn’t even have a sore arm after the shot.
But two weeks later, the Okanagan resident said things quickly turned sour when he and his family were enjoying a day out on the lake.
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“I sat and drove the boat. I realized my left leg was starting to feel funny and numb,” Scholfield told Global News. “And it didn’t disappear. It actually started to get worse.”
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Within two hours, Scholfield was paralyzed from the waist down. The Summerland man will spend three months in three different hospitals.
Doctors finally diagnosed him with acute disseminated encephalomyelitis, or ADEM.
“A neurologist who really did a thorough study of my case did additional testing on me,” Scholefield said, “and was able to essentially eliminate all other causes except for the COVID(-19) vaccine.”
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Now confined to a wheelchair, Scholfield applied for the federal Vaccine Injury Assistance Program (VISP) in September 2021.
Scholefield said he sent all the necessary information and kept calling support to check on his status.
After 15 months, a decision was made.
“Just yesterday I received documentation stating that they have approved my request and that the next step will be to determine the dollar value of this,” Scholfield said.
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Global News contacted the Vaccine Injury Assistance Program about the time it took to process Scholefield’s claim.
In a statement, the program said there were “several reasons for the length of time it took to process a claim.”
“Each claim is unique and varies in nature and complexity. As such, each claim creates its own hurdles, and often delays are specific to the unique claim itself,” said Senior Associate Edward Meyer.
“It is also important to emphasize that VISP is designed to compensate for serious and permanent injuries. As such, we may also receive guidance from our medical team that certain conditions/injuries will improve with time and that more time is needed to assess whether the injuries are in fact serious and permanent.’
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As of June 2021, more than 1,200 vaccine injury claims have been reported. But of these, only 50 claims have been approved by the medical board.
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“I think the government realized there were going to be risks associated with the COVID vaccination program and they created the Vaccine Injury Support (Program) to help people,” Scholfield said.
“It’s not doing enough, and it’s certainly not doing it on time.”
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The federal government’s website states that “serious adverse events are rare but do occur and that the benefits of the COVID vaccine outweigh the risks.”
In the meantime, Scholfield hopes more research will be done on vaccines to avoid further injury.
“I’m not anti-vaccine per se, but certainly, in my place, the COVID vaccine has a downside,” Scholfield said.
The federal government has paid out nearly $2.8 million to Canadians since the Vaccine Injury Assistance Program was established.
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