Who is responsible for the side effects of the vaccine?

CNBC published news that spread extensively to social media and said Americans would not be able to sue producers like Pfizer and Modernna in case of harmful side effects from vaccine. In addition, there is little chance that the state will pay them compensation.

Vaccinators in the United States are protected by the State Act PREP (the act of public willingness and emergency readiness), which completely removes responsibility from large pharmaceutical companies, thus giving them immunity.

The PRIP Act is really nothing new, but then few people thought about responsibility for the side effects, unlike today.

Under this law, the US government also introduced a programme called CICP (The Antimass Resemination Compensation Programme) in 2010, which aims to cover the damage people have suffered due to the unforeseen side effects of vaccines. But lawyers claim the state has paid less than 6% of people who have applied for compensation, and only those with sustainable side effects can apply.

Technically, pharmaceutical companies are not responsible for the side effects, because the FDA (Food and Barnat Administration) has to approve the drug before being put on the market. However, because of the law presented before the establishment of the United States, it is not possible to sue the FDA.

Unfortunately, in the case of side effects from COVID-19, people in the United States don't have much choice, but do we have in Europe?

The European Union is not in a situation like the United States, that is, there was no law that immunitys pharmaceutical companies until this year.

In late September of this year, AstraZeneca received partial immunity in European Union countries. In exchange for immunity, AstraZeneca offered a vaccine to members of the European Union at a lower price, Reuters reports.

“If a company requires a higher price, it will not receive the same conditions,” a European Union official told Reuters.

Unlike American producers, AstraZeneca has been given “only” partial immunity, which will have to cover judicial expenses until a certain amount of details are not presented to the public, and the European Union will finance some of the judicial spending and will pay the possible damages, but even under certain conditions. .

Details are complicated, but there will be the possibility of paying compensation in case of side effects. Vaccinators are urging the EU to create a fund to offset side effects, but there is still no information on fund development.

AstraZeneca is currently the only producer who has partial immunity in the EU. It is extremely important to note that vaccines have prevented polio, rubella, hepatitis, or b, tetanosis, smallpox, and many other diseases. On average, between 2 million and 3 million lives are saved annually.