U.S. Closer to COVID-19 Vaccine

According to the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, as well as the White House Coronavirus Task Force, the U.S. should have 100 million doses of a COVID-19 vaccine by the end of 2020.

The current vaccine, made by a biotech company called Moderna, will be in its final stage of volunteer trials by mid-summer. Those trials will include approximately 30,000 people from ages 18 to 55, as well as some people with underlying health conditions.

Will the COVID-19 vaccine be effective?

Even at this stage of the NIAID’s research, it is unknown whether the vaccine will be effective against COVID-19. Despite the unknown, the plan is to develop hundreds of millions of doses of the potential vaccine so that it may be implemented rapidly once the trials are completed.

Elsewhere in the world, other countries are also developing their own vaccines. The United Kingdom’s vaccine should follow a similar schedule to the one developed in the U.S. There are a number of other vaccine trials that will follow suit. Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the NIAID, is optimistic that one of these vaccines will be successful.

Compensation will be available for COVID-19 vaccine injuries

As we discussed before, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has already indicated that a COVID-19 vaccine will be covered under a Countermeasures Injury Compensation Program. The CICP is a very limited venue for petitioners to recover damages resulting from pandemic countermeasures, such as drugs or vaccines developed to fight COVID-19.

The CICP differs from the Vaccine Injury Compensation Program. For instance, in the VICP, there are more covered vaccines and HHS pays for your attorney’s fees.

There may come a time when the coronavirus requires a seasonal vaccination, similar to the vaccine against influenza. Under that scenario, HHS may add the seasonal COVID-19 vaccine to the list of covered vaccines in the VICP.

Obviously, we are quite far from that reality now. However, there is already some concern about the long-term durability of a COVID-19 vaccine. If the vaccine does not provide long-term immunity, expect it to become seasonal like the influenza vaccine.

The seasonal influenza vaccine was added to the VICP in July of 2005. Today, given its prevalence, it is named in the majority of vaccine injury petitions filed with the VICP. We do not know what side effects or injuries, if any, will be associated with a COVID-19 vaccine.

Should it follow a similar path as the seasonal influenza vaccine, we can expect many Petitions alleging injuries.

There will be a lot to monitor regarding the implementation of a COVID-19 vaccine, its effectiveness, its side effects, and its long-term durability over the next few years. You can be sure we will be monitoring it here.

Injured by a vaccine? We can help.

If you believe that you have been injured as a result of a vaccine, you may be entitled to compensation. Call us at (312) 578-9501 or fill out the form at the bottom of the page to get started.