Judge Dismisses COVID Vaccine-Injury Lawsuit Targeting PREP Act Liability Protections

A Louisiana federal court on Tuesday dismissed a lawsuit challenging the liability shield that U.S. lawmakers granted to COVID-19 vaccine manufacturers under the Public Readiness and Emergency Preparedness (PREP) Act.

“If I could humbly speak for those Americans that were injured by the COVID-19 vaccines, I would say that we are beyond disappointed about this legal decision in federal court in Louisiana,” Dr. Joel Wallskog, co-chair of React19, told The Defender. “We are devastated.”

React19, an advocacy group whose 36,000-plus members were injured by the COVID-19 vaccines, and eight vaccine-injured individuals sued federal entities, including the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), in October 2023.

COVID-19 shots were classified as “countermeasures” during the COVID-19 pandemic, which means they are governed under the PREP Act.

The PREP Act grants blanket liability protection to COVID-19 vaccine manufacturers — including Moderna, Pfizer and Novavax — for nearly every type of injury caused by the vaccines.

People injured by the COVID-19 vaccine can seek compensation through the federal Countermeasures Injury Compensation Program (CICP), set up under the PREP Act.

However, it is notoriously difficult to obtain compensation through that program. When the Louisiana lawsuit was filed in 2023, only four people had been compensated, even though the program had received over 12,000 requests for benefits.

As of today, the CICP has received 14,000 requests for compensation, but the program has compensated only 41 people.

The lawsuit alleged the program operates unfairly and violates the constitutional rights of the injured.