The Coronavirus Vaccine Should be Covered by the VICP

As we get closer to a vaccine for COVID-19, questions about its efficacy and safety have grown louder. Any vaccine that is mass-produced usually undergoes a long process to ensure its safety for the public. Instead, vaccine manufacturers and pharmaceutical companies are working overtime to develop and test a COVID-19 vaccine that they hope to have ready by the beginning of next year. These companies also want to make sure they are protected from liability against adverse reactions because of the short time frame in which this vaccine will be developed. For example, Johnson & Johnson and Pfizer expect to receive broad liability protection against injury claims by people who receive their vaccines in the United States.

However, if the public is going to be expected to line up for a fast-tracked COVID-19 vaccine, they should, at the very least, have an opportunity to be compensated if they experience an adverse reaction. So, what recourse do they have?

Compensation for Injuries Caused by COVID-19 vaccines and the CICP

As soon as a vaccine becomes widely available for the public, a large percentage of the U.S. population will be lining up to receive it. When that time comes, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has already indicated that a COVID-19 vaccine will be covered under its Countermeasures Injury Compensation Program (CICP).

The CICP is a very limited venue for people to recover damages resulting from pandemic countermeasures, such as drugs or vaccines developed to fight the H1N1 virus in 2009 or COVID-19. Although these are vaccines, because they have been developed in response to a pandemic, they are not covered by the Vaccine Injury Compensation Program (VICP). Unfortunately, there are some key differences between the VICP and CICP.

Unlike the VICP, there is a higher burden of proof for anyone alleging a vaccine injury in the CICP. And because the CICP does not pay for attorneys’ fees, it is unlikely that a Petitioner will be able to find an attorney to help him or her navigate the CICP and its obstacles. The VICP also pays out more in compensation than the CICP, and the CICP does not even offer compensation for pain and suffering. On top of all of that, instead of the three-year statute of limitations in the VICP, Petitioners alleging a vaccine injury in the CICP only have one year to bring a claim before it is time-barred.

In the face of all of this, the unfortunate truth is that someone who is injured by an eventual COVID-19 vaccine will very likely be unable to get the compensation they deserve through the CICP. Considering the valid safety concerns surrounding a COVID-19 vaccine, the public deserves to have access to compensation in the event of an adverse reaction. The Vaccine Injury Compensation Program is set up to do that and has worked for the last 30 years. Without access to the VICP, not only will the people who get injured by the COVID-19 vaccine be out of luck, but it will likely also deter others from even getting vaccinated in the first place – a result of the creation of the VICP was trying to avoid.