Woman whose husband died from AstraZeneca vaccine calls for overhaul of outdated compensation scheme

Experts believe Stephen Wright was the first man in the UK, possibly the world, to die from the jab. His wife Charlotte tells Samuel Lovett the government must do more to support heartbroken families like hers

Charlotte Wright, pictured with her husband Stephen, has been campaigning to reform the UK’s vaccine compensation scheme (Charlotte Wright)

It took months for Charlotte Wright to accept what killed her husband. His passing was sudden and unexpected, the causes desperately unclear at the time. After appearing to have suffered a stroke, Dr Stephen Wright was rushed to hospital in the early hours of 26 January. Later that day, at 6.33pm, time of death was called.

Only now, after medical confirmation, does Charlotte acknowledge that her 32-year-old husband, and father to two young boys, died as a result of vaccine-induced clotting in the brain. “Because we were both pro-vaccine,” Charlotte says, “I was in denial about everything and scared to suggest that had been the cause.”

A clinical psychologist who regularly worked in A&E, Stephen is just one of 66 people in the UK to die from the rare syndrome, having received a first dose of the Oxford/AstraZeneca jab on 16 January. With more than 40 million shots of the vaccine administered up to 2 June, the statistics speak loudly for themselves. Stephen’s death was heartbreakingly rare – a moment of cruel chance that carried catastrophic consequences for his loved ones.