Nearly half a million Britons claim to have suffered from side effects from the Covid jab, analysis of official figures reveals.

Over 2,500 people have submitted reports claiming that a family member has died as a result of the jab.

The figures from the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) yellow card reporting scheme – which allows anyone to report complications from a drug – showed that the AstraZeneca jab had the most reported complications.

This comes after a report of John Cross who took his own life after the Covid vaccine left him paralysed has finally been awarded compensation, three years after her husband's death.

John Cross suffered a rare reaction to the AstraZeneca jab which left him in hospital on a ventilator, unable to move, talk, or breathe.

He gradually managed to gain some mobility back, but never fully recovered after taking the jab.

Despite his illness, he was rejected from a government scheme that paid a lump sum of £120,000 to people harmed by the vaccination.

After two years of waiting for a decision, he was told by a medical assessor that he was not disabled enough for a payment.

Earlier this month, an independent tribunal with responsibility for overseeing the government's Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme (VDPS), reversed that decision.

And finally, nearly three years after Mr Cross's death, his widow Christine was awarded compensation as well as an apology for the distress caused to her family.

An investigation by the Telegraph revealed that John is not alone 243 people injured by Covid vaccines were denied payment because they did not meet this threshold, even though medical assessors said the harm they suffered had been linked to the vaccine.

The scheme has been widely condemned, with applicants having to prove 60 per cent disability to be eligible.

A Freedom of Information request (FOI) from last year shows that over 22,800 claims have been filed for compensation regarding serious disability or death following a COVID-19 vaccination.

Of these, only about 1 per cent to 5 per cent have resulted in successful payouts, with just over 200 claimants receiving the statutory one-off tax-free payment.

In total 202 claimants have received a Vaccine Damage Payment totalling £24,240,000.

One of those who received a payment was Kam Miller as her husband Neil Miller died after suffering from extremely rare side effects linked to the AstraZeneca vaccine.

Neil, a father-of-two, developed fatal blood clotting after receiving the jab in March 2021.

Kam said previously that her husband was fit and healthy but became seriously ill after he was vaccinated.

She said he began to suffer flu-like symptoms which became steadily worse, leading to several visits to hospital, in Leicester, over a two-month period.

Neil, 50, an IT worker, died on 1 May 2021 after collapsing at home.

His death certificate showed he died from vaccine-induced immune thrombosis and thrombocytopenia (VITT) and an inquest into his death concluded he had a ‘rare reaction’ to the Covid-19 vaccine.

Another patient who passed away due to Covid vaccine complications was the BBC radio present Lisa Shaw.

The otherwise healthy 44-year-old died in May 2021 after developing headaches following her first dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine.

A coroner ruled her death was caused by the same rare condition VITT. 

Coroner Karen Dilks heard Ms Shaw suffered from blood clots in her brain which caused a deadly stroke. She passed away at the Royal Victoria Infirmary in Newcastle three weeks after the injection.

Her widower, Gareth Eve, also successfully claimed a one-off tax-free payment through the VDPS.

Another person who received a payout from the scheme was John Stevens, whose late wife Rebecca Stevens was left wheelchair-bound and largely incapacitated after receiving the AstraZeneca jab in April 2021.

She died in October last year at the age of 48. Her death was attributed to natural causes and ‘complication which arose following administration of the AstraZeneca vaccination.’

Tom Dudley, 31, was another suffering headaches in the days after the got the AstraZeneca jab near his home in Sheffield on April 27, 2021.

Two weeks later he was found unresponsive in the early hours at the home he shared with his partner Simone and their two daughters.

The Sheffield United fan was rushed to Northern General Hospital, but doctors said the bleed on his brain was 'incurable' and he died three days later.

It is not clear if this bleed was specifically caused by VITT. However, a medic who treated the father-of-two in hospital told an inquest it was 'fair to say' he would still be alive today if he was given a different vaccine.

Coroner Tanyka Rawden recorded his cause of death as a bleed on the brain, caused by the vaccine.

While Kate Scott, whose husband Jamie was left with serious brain damage after taking the vaccine, is currently suing drug manufacturer Astrazeneca. 

She said pharmaceutical giants have 'felt untouchable', but should pay for damage caused by their products. 'I think they have an ethical responsibility. 

Their products might save lots of lives, but that doesn't mean they can get away with injuring and hurting people without any consequence,' she said. 

'Car companies wouldn't be the same. If a car is faulty by design, it would be taken off the road. It doesn't seem to be the same for pharmaceutical companies.'

However, she said it's not just about financial compensation, but support for those harmed and their families. '

Jamie has had over 300 medical appointments, and that's going to be ongoing,' she said. 'The bereaved also need support, and as my children grow up, they're going to have questions that we might need medical help answering.

'Jamie was 44, I'm younger than that, we had a long life planned. We have two young children and everything changed that day.'