thevaccinereaction--2020-08-31--Makers of Experimental COVID-19 Vaccines Lobby EU for Liability Protection

Vaccines Europe , a pharmaceutical industry lobbying group , has issued a memo to its member companies saying it would seek liability protection from the European Union ( EU ) for corporations manufacturing COVID-19 vaccines .
The memo , obtained by the Financial Times , expressed concern about the “ inevitable risks ” of rushing the development and global marketing of COVID-19 vaccines.1 2 3 According to the document : Vaccines Europe added that for this reason it will advocate for a “ comprehensive no-fault and non-adversarial compensation system , and an exemption from civil liability.
” The memo acknowledged @ @ @ @ @ @ @ adverse events ” after receiving COVID-19 vaccines and that , given the large number of people who will get the vaccines , this might lead to “ numerous damage claims.
” 1 2 3 The precedent that such liability protection would set worries Yannis Natsis , a patient representative on the management board of the European Medicines Agency ( EMA ) .
“ This kind of discussion around giving companies a free pass , this undermines patient safety and confidence in vaccines , ” Natsis said.4 On Aug. 27 , 2020 , AstraZeneca @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the company from future liability claims in exchange for supplying EU countries with at least 300 million doses of a COVID-19 vaccine by mid-2021.3 The Brussels Times reported : During negotiations leading up to the contract , Ruud Dober , a senior executive with AstraZeneca , said , “ This is a unique situation where we as a company simply can not take the risk if in four years the vaccine is showing side effects .
Dober added , “ In the contracts we have in place , we are asking for indemnification @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to take that risk on their shoulders because it is in their national interest.
” 5 6 AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford have been working to develop an experimental COVID-19 vaccine known as AZD1222 ( formerly ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 or “ chimpanzee adenovirus Oxford 1 ” novel coronavirus-19 ) .7 On Aug. 15 , 2002 , the results of a Phase I/II human clinical trial for AZD1222 were published in The Lancet .
The trial involved 1,077 healthy adults between the ages of 18 and 55 years old and data showed that AZD1222 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ approximately 60 percent of the trial participants.8 9 Vaccines Europe , which is a division of the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations , represent numerous major pharmaceutical companies , including Abbott Laboratories , AstraZeneca , CureVac , GlaxoSmithKline , Janssen Pharmaceuticals , Merck Sharp & Dohme , Novavax , Pfizer , Sanofi , Seqirus and Takeda Pharmaceutical Company.2 10