Injured with COVID-19 Vaccines? You Have Very Few Options & May be Out of Luck

While the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) formally approved the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine called BNT162b2 last year, TrialSite reported that due to the PREP Act, the company and associated vaccine distribution chain were 100% shielded from liability. But what about the National Vaccine Injury Compensation program (VICP), which offers a remedy for the vaccine-injured?  This is not relevant as although most vaccine injuries are covered by VICP, shots associated with COVID-19 are not.

Reported earlier this year by the National Law Review, the “no-fault, forced arbitration regime” led by a combined bureaucracy including the Division of Injury Compensation Programs, Healthcare Systems Bureau, Health Resources and Services Administration and Department of Health and Human Services, VICP ensures a “small portion of the payment for each vaccine administered and places those funds in the Vaccines Injury Compensation Trust Fund,” which is then used a purse to pay out proven claims.

Yet the VICP does not apply to COVID-19 vaccines! Again, due to the Public Readiness and Emergency Preparedness Act (PREP), the Secretary of Health and Human Services invoked countermeasures during the COVID-19 pandemic, which included the COVID-19 vaccines. COVID-19 vaccines fall under the Countermeasures Injury Compensation Program (CICP).

Thus, industry has limited exposure to liability and, of course, the underlying rationale and logic remain that under emergency conditions, industry will not invest if they are subject to liability. But what about when tens if not hundreds of billions of public dollars are allocated to the programs?

What is Available under CICP?

The National Law Review reported earlier this year that at least by late January 2022, “there is no official table yet for covered injuries related to the COVID-19 vaccination” yet all in the know declare injuries must be serious. But how is this defined? What about deaths? With no established trust fund, any claims under this statute must be filed directly with the HHS Secretary and absolutely no funding is available for attorney fees—a key underlying incentive to ensure those without funding have access to the courts in the Anglo-American legal system. 

While few if any claims have been paid out as of yet, they [claims] are “limited to out-of-pocket, unreimbursed medical expenses and lost employment income benefits.”

What Consumer Recourse Outlook?

This is not great for the consumer outlook. If a family member experiences a serious injury or death due to a COVID-19 vaccine, the family cannot even use a lawyer unless they have the means to cover this cost upfront. Few American families have that kind of money.

As the National Law Review declares, “If you have suffered a serious injury from a COVID-19 vaccine, you are basically on your own and should file a claim and seek recovery within certain extremely restricted limits.”

Fail to follow strict limitations period, and you can be barred from filing again. 

This situation isn’t fair for the vaccine-injured and must change.