Stokes v. Secretary of Health and Human Services

In the United States Court of Federal Claims OFFICE OF SPECIAL MASTERS No. 25-1368V Filed: January 23, 2026 Reissued for Public Availability: February 17, 2026 * * * * * * * * * * * * * * DOROTHY STOKES, * * Petitioner, * * v. * * SECRETARY OF HEALTH * AND HUMAN SERVICES, * * Respondent. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Dorothy Stokes, pro se, for petitioner.

Heather L. Pearlman, Esq., U.S. Dept. of Justice, Washington, DC, for respondent.

DECISION 1 Roth, Special Master: On August 15, 2025, petitioner filed a petition for Vaccine Compensation in the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program (“the Program”) 2 alleging that the Pneumovax 23 vaccine she received on October 12, 2017, significantly aggravated her previously existing immune deficiency, “resulting in Common Variable Immunodeficiency (CVID), hypogammaglobulinemia (D80.1), specific antibody deficiency (D80.6), chronic sinusitis, recurrent infections, maculopapular rash, cellulitis, and related symptoms.” Petition at 1, ECF No. 1. On October 23, 2025, respondent filed a Motion to Dismiss, requesting that this case be dismissed on the ground that the Pneumovax 23 vaccine is not covered by the Program. ECF No. 14. Petitioner was provided an opportunity to respond to this Motion by January 14, 2026, 3 and did not file a response, nor has she communicated with the Court since the October 16, 2025, status conference. See ECF Pursuant to Vaccine Rule 18(b), this decision was initially filed on January 23, 2026, and the parties were afforded days to propose redactions. The parties did not propose any redactions. Accordingly, this decision is reissued in its original form for posting on the court’s website.

The Program comprises Part 2 of the National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act of 1986, Pub. L. No. 99-660, 100 Stat. 3755, codified as amended, 42 U.S.C. §§ 300aa-10 et seq. (hereinafter “Vaccine Act” or “the Act”). Hereafter, individual section references will be to 42 U.S.C. § 300aa of the Act.

The docket entry located at ECF No. 14 automatically set a deadline for petitioner’s response of November 6, 2025.

Nevertheless, the Court provided petitioner until January 14, 2026, to file a response, as per the deadline set in ECF No. 13.

No. 13.

To receive compensation under the Program, petitioner must first show, as a preliminary matter, that she “received a vaccine set forth in the Vaccine Injury Table (the “Table”).” Edwards v. Sec'y of Health & Hum. Servs., No. 20-1682V, 2023 WL 3775021, at *1 (Fed. Cl. Spec. Mstr.

June 2, 2023) (citing § 11(c)(1)(A)). In other words, if the vaccine petitioner received is not covered by the Table, she cannot be compensated for injuries she alleges were caused by that vaccine.

Petitioner alleges that she was injured by the “Pneumovax 23” vaccine. ECF No. 1 at 1. “‘There are two types of pneumococcal vaccines . . . pneumococcal conjugate and polysaccharide vaccines.’” Edwards, 2023 WL 3775021, at *1 (quoting Bundy v. Sec'y of Health & Hum. Servs., No. 12-769V, 2014 WL 348852, at *1 (Fed. Cl. Spec. Mstr. Jan. 8, 2014)). “But only pneumococcal conjugate vaccines, routinely administered to children, are covered by the Vaccine Program.” Id. The Pneumovax 23 vaccine is not a pneumococcal vaccine but is instead a pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine. Id. Thus, “under the Vaccine Injury Table, it is not a covered vaccine,” Tirone v. Sec'y of Health & Hum. Servs., No. 18-869V, 2025 WL 896893, at *23 (Fed. Cl. Spec. Mstr. Feb. 26, 2025), and special masters have “no authority to preside over a vaccine injury claim stemming from a vaccine not listed on the Vaccine Injury Table,” Scanlon v. Sec'y of Health & Hum. Servs., No. 13-219V, 2013 WL 5755061, at *3 (Fed. Cl. Spec. Mstr. Sept.

27, 2013).

Accordingly, it is clear from the record in this case that petitioner failed to demonstrate that she received a vaccine covered by the Vaccine Injury Program. Thus, this case is dismissed. The Clerk of Court shall enter judgment accordingly.

IT IS SO ORDERED.

s/ Mindy Michaels Roth Mindy Michaels Roth Special Master