What the anti Covid vaccine companies are asking the EU to avoid legal risks
Covid vaccines and the question of liability in case of damage. The requests of Vaccine Europe, the association of vaccine manufacturers, according to an in-depth analysis by the Financial Times
The search for the Covid-19 vaccine is a race against time, with the steps of the experimentation phases being streamlined. But the urgency does not cancel out the dangers of testing or even the legal risks that would arise as a result.
On this front, the EU offers only partial protection to the producers of Covid-19 vaccines. Vaccines Europe, however, reports the Financial Times , advances the request for complete protection and a shield from "civil liability".
Let's go step by step.
THE RISKS
Let's start with the risks. "The speed and scale of the development and rollout" of the Covid vaccine leads to an impossibility of "generating the same amount of basic evidence that would normally be available through large clinical trials and health professionals building experience," explains Vaccine Europe , an association representing several vaccine manufacturers, according to the Financial Times.
This is why some people are at risk of suffering "adverse events" after vaccination. And "even if such events may not actually be related to vaccines, these events combined with the vastness of the vaccination program and the public attention to Covid-19 could lead to numerous claims for damages," explains Vaccine Europe.
PARTIAL PROTECTION OF THE EU
And precisely the financial coverage of these responsibilities is a key issue in the talks between pharmaceutical companies and governments that demand the vaccine quickly ( with Europe moving on several fronts ).
Governments are "ready to financially cover only some of the corporate risks," a European official told Reuters .
THE REQUESTS OF VACCINES EUROPE
Partial coverage is not enough for Vaccines Europe, which is asking for "full damage coverage without fault and without contradiction, with exemption from civil liability".
THE COMPANIES REPRESENTED
Vaccines Europe seeks coverage on behalf of AstraZeneca, GlaxoSmithKline, Janssen (owned by Johnson & Johnson), Merck, Novavax, Pfizer, Sanofi, Takeda, Abbott and CureVac.
A DANGEROUS PREVIOUS
Requests for full coverage are not acceptable according to Yannis Natsis, board member of the European Medicines Agency. It would create "a dangerous precedent," Natsis told the Financial Times.
"Such measures undermine people's confidence in vaccines," he added. "Governments must resist pharmaceutical pressures and be transparent."
FAVORITE TREATMENT FOR ASTRAZENECA?
But perhaps the precedent has already been created. According to Reuters, AstraZeneca has secured exemption from future liability claims for any damage caused by its vaccine candidate, which it is developing in partnership with the University of Oxford. This was said by a company manager who, however, did not report the countries in which this exemption was obtained.
HOW IT WORKS IN AMERICA
The problem is limited, at the moment, to Europe alone. In America, Reuters reports, it is the government that takes full responsibility for vaccine damage.
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/innovazione/cosa-chiedono-allue-le-aziende-dei-vaccini-anti-covid-per-evitare-rischi-legali/ on Wed, 26 Aug 2020 14:20:53 +0000.