Compensation by vaccine

Q: 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.

Q: 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.

Q: 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.

Q: 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.

Q: 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.

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

Influenza accounts for the largest share of VICP filings — about 71% of all cases on record. The bar chart below shows filings per vaccine, segmented by case outcome. Compensation rates vary widely by vaccine — flu shots have the highest compensation rate because SIRVA was added to the Vaccine Injury Table in 2017 and now qualifies for the Table presumption (no causation analysis needed). Vaccines without a Table claim require the petitioner to prove causation under Althen.

Click any vaccine name to view all cases for that vaccine.

Case outcomes

Stacked bars: cyan = compensated, amber = denied, rose = dismissed, grey = pending/other.

Why flu shots dominate

Influenza accounts for the majority of VICP filings because SIRVA — shoulder injury related to vaccine administration — was added to the Vaccine Injury Table in 2017. Once an injury is on the Table, the petitioner doesn't have to prove the vaccine caused the injury; they just have to show the injury fits the Table criteria within the prescribed onset window. That's why flu-shot SIRVA cases compensate at >80% while autism-spectrum claims (off-Table, requiring full Althen causation analysis) compensate at <5%.

Detailed breakdown

Vaccine	Total	Compensated	Rate	Median award	Total paid
Influenza	8,546	7,208	84%	$81K	$884.0M
Tdap	1,269	1,053	83%	$75K	$127.9M
HPV	412	144	35%	$63K	$22.9M
Pneumococcal	306	196	64%	$68K	$26.5M
MMR	291	130	45%	$100K	$33.7M
DTaP	286	119	42%	$120K	$46.1M
Hepatitis B	258	131	51%	$70K	$28.8M
Hepatitis A	130	89	68%	$100K	$16.0M
Rotavirus	116	61	53%	$54K	$11.1M
Meningococcal	114	77	68%	$70K	$10.8M
IPV/Polio	112	41	37%	$137K	$17.1M
Hib	100	36	36%	$108K	$19.2M
Varicella	86	44	51%	$75K	$12.2M
COVID-19	22	10	45%	$53K	$486K
MMRV	19	9	47%	$110K	$1.5M
Shingles	9	2	22%	$125K	$195K

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.