OTTAWA — The federal public health agency is taking over administration of a program that compensates people who have been injured by vaccines and pledging to review claims that were refused by a third-party administrator for being filed too late.

The vaccine injury support program began accepting claims in June 2021, after the widespread rollout of the COVID-19 vaccine in Canada.

People who experienced a “serious and permanent injury” as a result of receiving a vaccine authorized by Health Canada after Dec. 8, 2020, are eligible to make a claim.

It’s also been the subject of complaints from claimants who say the process is slow and communication is poor.

The government signed a contract with a third-party administrator, Oxaro, to run the program with an initial budget of $50 million over five years.