The National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program (VICP) provides compensation to people who have experienced significant injuries from vaccines. It’s not for mild or transient side effects but for lasting problems. This program, created by the National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act of 1986, is unique because it was set up to be a “no-fault” alternative to liability lawsuits filed in traditional courts.
It only covers certain vaccines that are recommended by the CDC for children and/or during pregnancy, though anyone who receives a covered vaccine can file a claim, even if they are not under 18 or were not pregnant when they received the vaccine. Vaccines are added to the schedule after they have been recommended by the CDC and after Congress has voted to add them.
Compensation is determined in one of two ways, though both follow the same overall process involving a court-appointed special master. The more straightforward way uses the Vaccine Injury Table, a list of known possible injuries associated with different vaccines and the window of time after administration of the vaccine that those injuries might occur. If someone can show proof that they experienced one of these injuries after receiving the vaccine associated with it, then they do not need to prove that the vaccine caused the injury. It’s presumed that it did, and they will receive compensation, though cases can take months to years to make their way through the process.
If an injury does not appear on the table, the process is more complex and requires the petitioner to show not only proof that the injury occurred but also a “preponderance of evidence” suggesting that the vaccine caused the injury. A “preponderance of evidence” is a legal standard of proof that basically means it’s more likely than not that the vaccine caused the injury — there must be more than a 50% likelihood that the vaccine caused the injury. That determination is made by a special master of the vaccine court. These cases take longer than those involving the injury table.
Petitioners can appeal decisions made by the special master, and people who reject the court’s decision can file a claim in civil court against the vaccine manufacturer or the healthcare provider who administered the vaccine. However, those suits cannot be filed unless the petitioner has first attempted to go through the VICP court.
A government FAQ provides more information on the details of the program and how it works.
Currently, Covid-19 vaccines are not part of the VICP and are instead covered by a less robust program called the Countermeasure Injury Compensation Program. See this article and this article for why this current arrangement (as of September 2025) is problematic.