Vaccine Injury Compensation Program

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommend the annual flu shot for most people. According to the CDC’s data, the flu shot prevents millions of recipients from getting influenza each year, and tens of thousands of people avoid influenza-associated hospitalizations as a result of getting vaccinated.

There are right and wrong ways to administer vaccines. Although giving someone a flu shot may seem like a fairly straightforward process, mistakes during immunizations are common, and these mistakes often lead to a class of injuries known as Shoulder Injury Related to Vaccine Administration (SIRVA). One of the most-common mistakes that can lead to SIRVA is inserting the needle too high on the patient’s arm.

What is the Proper Location for Administering a Flu Shot?

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) provides guidelines for proper administration in a book titled, Epidemiology and Prevention of Vaccine-Preventable Diseases, also known as the “Pink Book.” The Pink Book

Every so often, the U.S. Health Resources & Services Administration (HRSA) makes changes to the Vaccine Injury Table. The HRSA has made a couple of major changes in recent years, adding Guillain-Barre Syndrome (GBS) resulting from flu shots and shoulder injuries related to vaccine administration (SIRVA) resulting from most of the “on-table” vaccines.

Recently, the HRSA announced that it is preparing to adopt another significant revision.

For individuals with questions about vaccines, Vaccine Information Statements (VISs) are a good place to find reliable information. Vaccine Information Statements are documents published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) that, “inform vaccine recipients – or their parents or legal representatives – about the benefits and risks of a vaccine they are receiving.