Larry Lowe, a 54-year-old father from Northern Ireland, says the Covid booster jab has “destroyed” him and left him in constant pain, after he took the Pfizer booster in December 2021 believing he was doing his public duty.

Before the Covid booster jab, he ran 10km most days, played music, and had already had earlier vaccine doses without worry; however, within days of the injection he developed numbness on the right side of his face and severe pain.

At first he hoped the symptoms would pass, but over the past two years the pain spread and intensified, leaving him sometimes screaming and crying in bed at night; as a result, he retired on medical grounds and doctors say full recovery is unlikely.

In April 2024, a consultant neurologist diagnosed painful trigeminal neuropathy and small fibre sensory neuropathy, affecting him from head to toes; one consultant said the Covid vaccine was the main cause, and clinicians told him his body treats it like a “toxin.”

Meanwhile, experts say the benefits of Covid vaccination outweigh side effects, which are usually mild and short-lived; the government has paid £20 million so far, with 168 Vaccine Damage Payments of £120,000, mostly linked to rare AstraZeneca clotting, and 592 claims still pending.