B.C. man still waiting for compensation from COVID vaccine injury

A B.C. man who is one of the rare people acknowledged to have suffered a debilitating reaction to a COVID vaccine says he is still living a bureaucratic nightmare waiting for compensation.

Jan Przeranski suffers from a chronic, progressive condition that has caused swelling and infections in his arm, rendering it mostly non-functional.

He was approved for compensation from the federal government’s vaccine injury program, but after the government took the program back from a private firm, he has yet to see any money and is out thousands of dollars he has spent on treatment.

He says he was told he would receive a payment on Thursday, but has seen nothing.

“My home care quit because I didn’t have money to pay her anymore, OK, so I am without home care, this is my number one problem right now,” Przeranski told Global News.

“Since I don’t have the home care and I have to ask some people to help me here and there so I have to pay them with money from my own pocket, right, I’m getting short on rent as well, so, I avoided last month and I have problem again this month with my landlord.”

The Public Health Agency of Canada says it cannot comment on individual cases due to privacy concerns, but says it is working on Przeranski’s claim.