Refugees not vaccinated because drugmakers fear injury lawsuits

A global vaccine program is denying tens of millions of refugees and other country-less people COVID-19 shots because some major drug manufacturers are concerned about getting sued by people claiming to have suffered adverse effects.

The United Nations says COVID-19 vaccine manufacturers have required that countries relieve them of any legal liability.

Reuters reviewed internal documents from the charity operating the global vaccine program, Gavi, showing that about 167 million people could be excluded from national vaccine programs.

Non-governmental organizations participating in the program run by Gavi – called COVID-19 Vaccines Global Access, or COVAX – say they can’t bear the legal risks of administering the vaccines to migrants.

More than two-thirds of COVAX doses have come from vaccines produced by Pfizer and BioNTech, Moderna and AstraZeneca.

Reuters said Moderna officials declined to comment. Officials with AstraZeneca and Pfizer said they were in talks with Gavi but declined further comment. Johnson & Johnson has said it would waive a requirement for indemnity for delivery of its vaccine to migrants. – READ MORE