'Preposterous': Biden admin extends liability protection to COVID-19 vaccine manufacturers

The Biden Department of Health and Human Services has extended liability protection to COVID-19 vaccine manufacturers and administrators through Dec. 31, 2029, precluding vaccine recipients who reportedly end up injured or their surviving family members from holding those responsible to account.

Kim Mack Rosenberg, general counsel for Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s Children's Health Defense, called the decision from the outgoing administration "very concerning," not only because it protects pharmaceutical companies and the government but because it "allows for largely unfettered product development."

Health Secretary Xavier Becerra suggested in his declaration that continued coverage for the manufacture, testing, development, distribution, administration, and use of FDA-approved COVID-19 vaccines, drugs, and diagnostics under the Public Readiness and Emergency Preparedness Act "is intended to prepare for and mitigate the credible risk presented by COVID-19."

Although the federal public health emergency for COVID-19 expired on May 11, 2023, and the virus has reportedly moved from a pandemic to the endemic phase, Becerra suggested that COVID-19 continues to both "present a credible risk of a future public health emergency" and "cause significant serious illness, morbidity, and mortality during outbreaks." Citing these supposed risks, he suggested that it was necessary to renew liability protection to ensure the continued development and stockpiling of vaccines.

'The only threat is a loss of air-tight liability that leaves the vast majority of victims out of luck.'

The Congressional Research Service previously noted that under the HHS declaration, covered persons in most cases cannot be sued for losses — including death, physical or mental injury, and business interruption loss — relating to the use or administration of COVID-19 vaccines.

The sole exception to PREP Act immunity is for death or serious physical injury caused by "willful misconduct." To qualify as willful misconduct, the covered person must have "acted (i) intentionally to achieve a wrongful purpose; (ii) knowingly without legal or factual justification; and (iii) in disregard of a known or obvious risk that is so great as to make it highly probable that the harm will outweigh the benefit."

The liability protections for the COVID-19 vaccines were first introduced in January 2020. This is the 12th extension.

Children's Health Defense CEO Mary Holland suggested the Biden administration was "attempting to tie the hands of the incoming administration in its treatment of emergencies and pandemics. This is not the way elections and transfer of power are supposed to work."

Ray Flores, who serves as senior outside counsel for Kennedy's organization, told the Defender, "It is preposterous that HHS extended PREP Act protections based on a no-longer-existing threat. The only threat is a loss of air-tight liability that leaves the vast majority of victims out of luck."

Bloomberg Law reported that Becerra's declaration comes amid calls for COVID-19 vaccines to be covered under the HHS' Vaccine Injury Compensation Program. In its notice, the HHS indicated that Americans injured by COVID-19 vaccines will still be unable to seek compensation through the VICP.

COVID-19 vaccines are instead covered "countermeasures" under the Countermeasures Injury Compensation Program. The PREP Act authorizes the CICP to provide some compensation to individuals who suffered serious physical injury as the direct result of the supposedly "safe and effective" COVID-19 vaccines.

COVID-19 vaccines have reportedly been shown in some cases to cause significant harm.

A study published January in the pharmacotherapy journal Therapeutic Advances in Drug Safety indicated that "COVID-19 vaccination is strongly associated with a serious adverse safety signal of myocarditis, particularly in children and young adults resulting in hospitalization and death."

In addition to noting the well-documented correlation between the COVID-19 vaccines and increased risk of heart conditions, a study conducted by the Global COVID Vaccine Safety Project — a Global Vaccine Data Network initiative supported by both the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the HHS — and published February in the journal Vaccine detailed troubling links between the AstraZeneca, Moderna, and Pfizer vaccines and medical conditions such as Guillain-Barré syndrome, brain and spinal cord inflammation, Bell's palsy, and convulsions.

Despite suggesting vaccinations were still worthwhile, a 2023 study published in the Elsevier Journal of Taibah University Medical Sciences noted that "a survey has found that 65% of participants experience adverse reactions."

As of Nov. 1, 13,520 claims were filed with the CIPC. Of the 3,438 decisions made so far, only 65 claims were found eligible for compensation. Of that number, only 18 claims were compensated.

The claims cited a wide range of injuries, including blood clots, strokes, and heart attacks. There were also 671 claims stating the COVID-19 vaccines resulted in death.

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