‘Oxford developed jab that killed my wife, then made £143m’
Nicola Weideling, a senior manager at Oxford University, was putting on a brave face.
As she lay in her hospital bed, being treated for blood clots caused by the Covid vaccine developed by Oxford in conjunction with AstraZeneca, Nicola told her friends on social media not to worry about her.
“Fun fact,” she posted on Instagram. “I am now a vaccine statistic! My neck pain and back pain over the last week or so was in fact masking ... a blood clot (or two, they are still doing scans) resulting from my AZ vaccine a few weeks ago …
“But the good news is that I have a correct diagnosis and am in the right place to get better. God bless the NHS!! And everyone. I would still recommend the AZ vaccine. I am an anomaly! An absolute outlier statistically.”
Two days after that post, Nicola suffered a catastrophic bleed on the brain that killed her.
Now, more than two years on, her grieving husband Kurt Weideling has called on Oxford University, which had employed his wife, to do the right thing and admit responsibility for her death at the age of 45. The university has received £143 million in royalties for its role in the development of the vaccine.
Mr Weideling, 54, said some of that money should now be distributed to the grieving families and victims suing AstraZeneca for deaths and serious injuries caused by the Covid jab.
The university has given a sizeable amount to its 13,000 staff in the form of a £1,000 bonus. Nicola, who was a senior marketing executive at Oxford University Press (OUP), a department of the university, would have been entitled to it.
Except, of course, the vaccine killed her. A coroner ruled that she had died of a “rare but recognised complication of the vaccination”, known as Vaccine-induced Immune Thrombocytopenia and Thrombosis, or VITT.
“Realistically some of that £143 million should have gone to victims,” said Mr Weideling. “Some recognition for what happened would have been appropriate. That money should have been spent on the victims of VITT.”
He shared his wife’s final posts on Instagram with The Telegraph to show “the kind of person she was – committed to doing the right thing and helping others”. She was, he said, “very very generous”.
Nicola had her first jab on April 21 2021, at a time when the risk from blood clots was already known to AstraZeneca and to regulators, who had advised against its use for the under-30s, who would be offered the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines instead. In May, that would be extended to the under-40s.
About a week or so after the jab, Nicola began to feel a pain in her neck. Her local GP in Winchester suggested it was a muscle spasm. But by May 8 – a Saturday – her husband was becoming seriously worried.
“Nicola had a really bad headache and some unusual bruises on her arms,” said Mr Weideling, who at the time worked for the Health Research Authority, the body that oversees medical trials.
He was aware of the possible side effects – of blood clots with low blood platelets – that the AstraZeneca vaccine was said to be causing, and phoned 111 and then called for an ambulance.
Nicola was taken to hospital in Winchester, where she was diagnosed with VITT, and from there to Southampton General Hospital, with its specialist neurological unit.
On May 9, Nicola posted on Instagram of her “fun fact” diagnosis of blood clots. She remained upbeat. “This morning I have been transferred to the neuro unit in Southampton where I will be filled with blood thinners and steroids to dissipate said clots and improve my platelet levels. Will be here at least a week. No visitors allowed.”
She was still positive a day later. On May 10, she posted her “highlights” of the day, which included doctors removing one of the cannulas “so no longer ‘tethered’ by both arms (which has been a logistical nightmare)”.
The “lowlights”, she told her friends included: “Discovered that coughing is really really bad. My drink went the wrong way this morning, causing me to cough, which resulted in an absolutely blinding headache all day (side effect of having a brain clot).”
Further scans had uncovered “a clot in my lung too. And suspected clot in my stomach (ultrasound tomorrow to confirm). BUT, current treatment will treat those too with no adjustment necessary”.
Her conclusion, upbeat as always, was: “So all in all, could be worse I suppose!”
The next day, Nicola suffered a “significant brain bleed” from which she never recovered. She slipped into unconsciousness and never came to. Her husband agreed to switch off her life support machine on May 15, but only after he had signed off consent forms to donate his wife’s heart and two kidneys to three other patients, whose lives he hopes have been saved.
“I said my goodbyes on Saturday afternoon,” said Mr Weideling, “I was still in shock. The last thing I did for Nicola was ensure her wishes as an organ donor were fulfilled. For me that was finding a genuine ray of light in it all. There is comfort in that.”
Oxford University’s accounts for 2021/22 show that it received £143.1 million in royalties “on the sale of the Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine”. The university was then obliged to pass on £67 million to “third parties for use of vaccine technology”.
Oxford University’s net surplus was £76.1 million. Then, in June 2022, it announced that every member of staff – about 13,000 in total – would receive a £1,000 one-off “thank you” bonus for working through the pandemic. Nicola would have received the cash.
Sources at Oxford said the one-off payment to staff was not related to the vaccine royalties received by the university. “Any royalties made from the vaccine are reinvested back into medical research,” said the source.
Oxford declined to comment. It said compensation for the vaccine was an issue for AstraZeneca and for the Government, which promised at the outset of the race to develop a Covid jab that it would underwrite any legal claims.
The adverse reaction is extremely rare, with VITT affecting about one in 50,000 people under the age of 50 who received the AZ jab.
AstraZeneca is being sued in the High Court by two VITT victims, cases it is strongly contesting. The drugs company denies any liability and insists the vaccine is not “defective”, as claimed in the legal actions.
It has been pointed out that the jab saved, according to one independent study, more than six million lives worldwide in more than 180 countries in its first year of rollout.
In a legal defence made public this week, AstraZeneca said the legal action was “wrong in law” and “confused”.
A further 40 legal cases against AstraZeneca are expected to be lodged in the High Court in December, including the case being brought by Mr Weideling.
More than two years on from his wife’s death, he is trying to rebuild his life. He received a £120,000 payment from the Government under its Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme in recognition that the jab killed his wife, but the sum is not recompense for both the tragedy he has gone through and the lost earnings that contributed to their incomes.
A former officer in the Australian military, Mr Weideling understands the difficult decisions that need to be made in a crisis. He has no problem with the need to find a vaccine and roll it out quickly during the pandemic.
“But what I can’t get my head around is their denial that anything wrong has gone wrong – pretending it didn’t happen and then absolving themselves of any responsibility,” he said. “The whole thing has been incredibly shocking. It’s devastating.”
Mr Weideling has since moved to Manchester, and tried to move on. But the couple had been together almost 25 years. “I miss her every day,” he said. “I will never get over this.”
Families bringing legal actions against AstraZeneca have launched a fundraising campaign to help to pay for the litigation, which can be found here.
