Filings per year, 1988–present

Live · 12,052 cases in database · latest filing 2026-03-05

VICP filings have grown dramatically over the program's lifetime. The chart below shows annual filings since 1988, segmented by case outcome. The peak year on record is 2021 with 1,502 filings.

Three regulatory events shaped the modern caseload: the 2008 Cedillo Omnibus Autism Proceeding denial (drove autism-claim filings to near zero), the 2017 addition of SIRVA to the Vaccine Injury Table (drove flu-shot filings up by an order of magnitude), and the 2020 routing of COVID-19 vaccine injuries to CICP rather than VICP (kept the 2020+ filings dominated by non-COVID injuries).

VICP filings per year, 1988–present

Stacked area chart by case outcome.

The 2017 SIRVA Inflection

SIRVA was added to the Vaccine Injury Table on March 21, 2017. Before that, shoulder injuries from a flu shot required full Althen causation analysis. After 2017, they became Table claims with the presumption of causation. Filings spiked roughly threefold within two years, and SIRVA-after-flu cases are now the highest-volume and highest-compensation-rate combination in the entire program.

Frequently asked questions about the VICP

General questions about the U.S. Vaccine Injury Compensation Program.

What is the VICP?

The Vaccine Injury Compensation Program (VICP) is a federal no-fault compensation program for individuals who allege injury from vaccines listed on the Vaccine Injury Table. It was established by the National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act of 1986 and is administered jointly by HHS, the Department of Justice, and the U.S. Court of Federal Claims. Petitions are decided by Special Masters in lieu of traditional civil litigation.

What is the Althen test?

Althen v. HHS, 418 F.3d 1274 (Fed. Cir. 2005) is the controlling precedent for off-Table causation in the VICP. To prevail on a non-Table claim a petitioner must show: (1) a medical theory causally connecting the vaccination and the injury; (2) a logical sequence of cause and effect showing the vaccination was the reason for the injury; and (3) a proximate temporal relationship between the vaccination and the injury.

What is the average VICP award?

The median compensation award in VICP is approximately $80,000; the mean is approximately $130,000 because of a long right-tail of catastrophic-injury and death-of-petitioner cases that compensate in the millions. As of the most recent corpus refresh, the program has paid approximately $1.19 billion to 9,200+ compensated petitioners.

How long does a VICP case take?

Median time from filing to final judgment in the VICP is approximately 21 months; mean is approximately 26 months. Compensated cases tend to resolve faster than denied or dismissed cases, because contested off-Table causation petitions require multi-round expert witness testimony.

Who decides VICP cases?

Special Masters of the U.S. Court of Federal Claims, Office of Special Masters, decide VICP petitions. There are approximately 8 active Special Masters at any given time, including a Chief Special Master who manages the docket. Decisions can be appealed to the U.S. Court of Federal Claims (judges) and from there to the Federal Circuit.