Vaccine Court

National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program

Thirty-five years ago, Congress created the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program. The Program reimburses children hurt by routine immunizations administered as a condition of school entry. The federal program compensates people experiencing vaccine injuries, but not injuries from covid vaccines. This program is known also as the vaccine court.

The vaccine court paid more than $4 billion to 8,000 families since 1988. Claimants must prove by a “preponderance of evidence” that vaccines hurt their kids. Preponderance of the evidence is one type of evidentiary standard used in a burden of proof analysis. Under the preponderance standard, the burden of proof is met when the party convinces the fact finder that there is a greater than 50% chance that the claim is true.

The court also covers vaccine injuries in pregnant women, and from the flu vaccine.

Countermeasures Injury Compensation Program

A smaller federal program called the Countermeasures Injury Compensation Program applies to covid vaccines. This Program addresses illnesses resulting from drugs or vaccines administered during a public health emergency, including the covid pandemic. However, the countermeasures program has yet to pay anyone allegedly hurt by a covid vaccine.

The Countermeasures Injury Compensation Program, however, arose as part of Obama’s 2005 Public Readiness and Emergency Preparedness Act. The Act’s purpose was to protect drug companies from lawsuits over anthrax and smallpox vaccines, which had a relatively high rate of dangerous side effects.