Member's statement: Vaccine Injured and Bereaved Support NI
Member's statement by Mr Paul Frew on .
- MLA
- Mr Paul Frew
- Party at the time
- Democratic Unionist Party
- Date
- 20 May 2025
- Type
- Member's statement
- Business
- Members' Statements
- Heading
- Vaccine Injured and Bereaved Support NI
- Assembly identifier
- Official Report component 4963729
Read the official Assembly record
Text
I rise to raise awareness of a meeting that took place last week, on Tuesday 13 May, when Vaccine Injured and Bereaved Support (VIBS) NI took a delegation of bereaved and injured people to meet the Health Minister to talk about their conditions, their symptoms and their loss. I must say that they got hope from that meeting. I thank the Minister for meeting them and for providing that hope. Those people have been gaslit, ignored and dismissed for far too long. A Member of the House even told them that they should not meet in Stormont and would be better meeting in a community centre. That is how those injured people have been treated to date. I press the Minister to do everything in his power to make sure that those people are, first, recognised — that the medical fraternity recognises them as vaccine-injured, because there is a fear in the medical profession that it dare not talk about vaccine injury — and that those people be given the support that they need to live the rest of their lives in fulfilment despite their injuries and loss. It will be the biggest medical scandal in our lifetime, not because they were injured because they took a medicine — that is the most natural thing in the world — but because they were coerced into taking that medicine by parties in the House and Governments in Westminster and throughout the Western World. Since that and because of that, those people have been ignored. They have been an inconvenience. Those people need to know that they are not isolated and alone. Support group branches have now been set up in every county of Northern Ireland and practically every major town. Those people require that support from the charitable organisation VIBS NI, but they need so much more help from government, the Health Department and trusts. I am determined to make sure that they are recognised and acknowledged and that they receive the support that they so badly need.
337 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.
Assessment
Jev’s structured answers met the documented threshold for “not flagged”.
- Overall probability that the activity is being used to promote, exploit or escalate an identity-based controversy: 0.14 (flagging needs at least 0.70; at or below 0.30 is not flagged).
- None of the five culture-war criteria was met (each was below 0.60).
- Assessed as legitimate policy scrutiny (0.69).
- No identity-based framing was identified (0.93).
- Subject area: Disability (including neurodivergence and mental health), disabled people and disability or sickness benefits.
- The overall probability was at or below the not-flagging threshold.
This is an AI-generated assessment of the text, made against published criteria. It is not a finding of fact about the MLA or their intentions. The Assembly record itself is the fact.
Jev’s structured answers
| Question | Probability | Met? |
|---|---|---|
| Identity framing | 0.06 | No |
| Sectarian or communal antagonism | 0.08 | No |
| Cultural grievance politics | 0.02 | No |
| Dog-whistle messaging | 0.07 | No |
| Controversy escalation | 0.13 | No |
| Legitimate policy scrutiny | 0.69 | Yes |
| Overall judgement | 0.14 | At or below not-flagging threshold |
| Option | Probability |
|---|---|
| No identity-based framing (chosen) | 0.93 |
| Reports or questions it | 0.00 |
| Criticises or condemns it | 0.01 |
| Adopts it | 0.06 |
| Subject | Probability |
|---|---|
| Disability (including neurodivergence and mental health), disabled people and disability or sickness benefits | 0.93 |
| No identity-related subject | 0.07 |
| Flags, emblems, symbols, names and memorials | 0.00 |
| Parades, bonfires and commemorations | 0.00 |
| Irish language, Ulster-Scots and language policy | 0.00 |
Assessed 21 October 2026 at 12:32 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.
Disagree with this assessment?
Classifications can be challenged. A person reads every challenge, and any change is recorded publicly above with its reason.