COVID Vaccine-Injured Testify on Issues With Federal Support System at Inquiry

Michelle Worton testifies before the Allison Inquiry in Ottawa on Sept. 9, 2026. Yan Parisien for The Epoch Times

Several Canadians injured by COVID-19 vaccines testified about issues they say they experienced with the now-defunct Vaccine Injury Support Program (VISP), which was taken over and renamed by the federal government in April amid mounting criticism of its operations, with several telling an Ottawa inquiry that problems persist.

“If anyone thinks that the Vaccine Injury Support Program—or the new program—is assisting Canadians, it is not,” Michelle Worton testified before the Allison Inquiry on Sept. 9.

Worton told the inquiry, which aims to provide a forum for Canadians injured by COVID-19 vaccines to tell their stories over four days, that she was left in a wheelchair and with neurological symptoms following her vaccine doses.

Worton founded the non-profit CANrise19, which provides resources for individuals suffering from vaccine injuries. She said CANrise19 conducted a survey that found 46 percent of respondents did not apply to VISP due to barriers, 24 percent were ineligible due to missed deadlines or a lack of medical support, and 93 percent had their claims rejected.

Worton said her own application to VISP was rejected despite having confirmation of being injured by the vaccine. “They make it so difficult, and this is not my story alone. Thousands of Canadians are experiencing the same,” she said, calling it a “failed” program.

Kelly Shorkey testified that despite the chief medical officer of British Columbia, Canada Life Assurance Company, WorkSafeBC, and the Canada Pension Plan agreeing that she was injured by the COVID-19 vaccine, VISP denied her claim. Shorkey said she suffers from trigeminal neuralgia and polycranial nerve damage, which causes her pain.

Vienna Demeduk, who said she has had several strokes since receiving her first COVID-19 vaccine, said VISP was plagued with issues, and that her case worker asked her to resubmit her appeal because they lost it.

Michael Oesch, who was left paralyzed after his fourth COVID-19 vaccine dose, said VISP was “ill-devised to start from,” given that it was run by a third-party rather than directly by the government. “I believe it was run more like an insurance company. Actually, the rates of denial for the Vaccine Injury Support Program were greater than insurance denial rates,” he said.

Oesch said he is optimistic that with the Public Health Agency of Canada taking over the program, the system will approve more cases for payouts instead of “finding ways to dismiss them.”

Health Canada and the Public Health Agency of Canada told The Epoch Times in a statement that VIAP “draws on lessons learned from the previous VISP, as well as best practices from similar programs administered by Quebec and G7 partners.”

The agencies said that while the eligibility requirements between the VIAP and VISP have not changed, “clarification on the three-year time limit has been provided in order to support individuals whose injury develops gradually.”