BMJRG Attorney Chris Webb recently did an interview with Bloomberg Law regarding the COVID-19 vaccine and its potential to be added to the federal vaccine injury payment table.
According to the article:
The Biden administration is taking the final steps toward dropping a Trump-era policy hindering people injured by vaccines from seeking federal compensation.
The decision has implications either way for the effort to immunize all Americans against Covid-19, but the Department of Health and Human Services said Friday that any changes to the vaccine injury program “could have a negative impact on vaccine administrators” and be at odds with the administration’s massive push to get all U.S. adults vaccinated this summer.
Biden initially paused the rule until April 23. Late last week, however, the administration proposed axing it, citing the coronavirus pandemic and the Trump administration’s hasty finalization of a change that traditionally would take several years.
Covid-19 vaccines aren’t now among those in which associated injuries are eligible for compensation under the program, but they could be added in the future. The Trump rule, which would complicate the addition of new vaccines to the injury list, was finalized shortly after the first Covid-19 shots became available. Disallowing potential claims of injury could dissuade some people from getting vaccinated, injury lawyers argue.
In regards to injuries, Chris Webb was quoted:
“People are going to have reactions. There are going to be injuries,” said Chris Webb, shareholder and attorney at Black McLaren Jones Ryland & Griffee PC. And word would quickly get around if there was no way to get compensation, which would make people “worried about getting vaccinated” even more reluctant.
Read the full article at Bloomberg Law here.