“At this point, the government has totally abandoned us,” Cody Flint, a vaccine-injured pilot, told NTD’s “The Nation Speaks” program in an interview broadcast on Jan. 1.
“The PREP Act stated that vaccine injuries were given an outlet to go seek compensation and financial help in the name of the Countermeasure Injury Compensation Program—the CICP—it’s an absolute joke,” Flint said. “We are totally left in the dark.”
The Public Readiness and Emergency Preparedness (PREP) Act authorizes the secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to issue a declaration to provide liability immunity against any claim of loss resulting from the manufacture or use of medical countermeasures, which include medicines, vaccines, and medical supplies, to treat diseases.
On March 10, 2020, former HHS Secretary Alex Azar issued a PREP Act declaration for medical countermeasures against COVID-19. The declaration has been extended or amended multiple times. The liability protection is extended through Oct. 1, 2024.
Under this declaration, a vaccine-injured person can’t sue COVID-19 vaccine manufacturers like Pfizer, Moderna, and Johnson & Johnson, or federal health agencies like the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) that approved or authorized these vaccines.
