COVID-19 Vaccine Casualties and Wounds | Canadian Administration Grants $56 Million to Oxaro for Compensation Claims Settlement | $16 Million Paid Out to Victims, With $40 Million Expended by Oxaro
Anita Krishna, a former producer and newsroom director at Global News, has expressed her dissatisfaction with the network's recent three-part series on Canada's Vaccine Injury Support Program (VISP). Krishna, now the host of The Anita Krishna Show on YouTube, believes that the series is a distraction from the media, medical system, and government's role in the COVID-19 situation.
Krishna is frustrated that Global News is only now addressing questions she posed before her 2022 dismissal, but she is also glad that they are saying the words out loud that they never said before. In a recent episode of her show, she criticized the series, stating that it distracts from the deeper issues at hand.
The series, which highlights significant issues within VISP such as administrative mismanagement, underestimation of claim volumes, delayed processing, low payouts, and emotional distress caused to claimants, has been praised for exposing serious problems with vaccine injury compensation. However, critics argue that focusing mainly on this program sidesteps larger debates about vaccine safety, government transparency, and media responsibility in pandemic communication.
The government spent $6 billion on developing, procuring, and distributing the COVID-19 vaccine, but has only managed to pay out $16 million in compensation. Health Canada expected only 40 claims a year, but is receiving thousands due to strict, confusing, and slow criteria for applying. The series underplays the number of Canadians who have died or been permanently disabled from the COVID-19 injection, with estimates suggesting hundreds of thousands.
Anita Krishna's position is that mainstream news media is about controlling the public, not informing them. She believes that news organizations are not supposed to fire employees for asking questions, but rather for asking the hard-hitting questions that need to be asked.
The series may be seen as evading deeper scrutiny of how governments and media handled the pandemic's uncertainties and the trustworthiness of vaccine information. This perceived deflection prevents discussions on whether the governments or media adequately addressed vaccine risks upfront or facilitated informed public consent, which are considered true "hard-hitting questions" by some commentators.
In addition to these concerns, there are reports of individuals who have not received any compensation despite being paralyzed from the waist down and losing custody of their child after a third booster shot. Another case involves a widow who lost her 45-year-old husband to the clot shot and has had to wait years for compensation, receiving only three years' worth of her late husband's salary, plus three months of weekly therapy for her and her kids.
The injured are afraid they'll be labeled as "anti-vaxxers" if they speak up. One case worker at Oxaro, a company hired by Health Canada, reportedly told a claimant that they didn't have to get the vaccine.
The remaining $40 million has been used for an inexperienced staff who are reported to spend their office time socializing, watching YouTube, streaming Netflix, playing ping-pong, and consuming alcoholic beverages on Fridays. The government has given Oxaro, a company hired by Health Canada, $56 million, but only $16 million has been paid out to the injured.
As the debate continues, Anita Krishna's The Anita Krishna Show on YouTube provides emotionally-charged, insider commentary on these issues. The show can be found on the YouTube channel of the same name.
- Krishna's dissatisfaction with Global News' three-part series on VISP stems from her belief that it avoids addressing deeper issues related to vaccine safety, government transparency, and media responsibility in pandemic communication.
- Anita Krishna's perspective on mainstream media is that it should inform the public, not control them, and that news organizations should not fire employees for asking hard-hitting questions about vaccines and their impacts.
- Financial concerns have arisen as the government, having spent $6 billion on the COVID-19 vaccine, has only paid out $16 million in compensation from VISP, leaving an estimated $40 million unaccounted for within the organization managing the program.
- Political and ethical dilemmas have been highlighted by Krishna's show, as individuals who have suffered severe side-effects from the vaccine, such as being paralyzed or losing a loved one, have experienced delayed compensation and fear being labeled as "anti-vaxxers" if they speak up about their experiences.
