Did You Know, you can’t sue the manufacturer for a COVID-19 vaccine injury?
Unlike nearly every other product in the U.S., COVID-19 vaccines and other emergency counter measures are shielded from liability. Injured individuals have no right to sue the manufacturer—even in cases of clear harm. Instead, they’re forced into a little-known federal program called the Countermeasures Injury Compensation Program (CICP).
The problem? CICP is failing.
It operates behind closed doors, offers no legal representation, no appeals process, and pays almost nothing. While the Vaccine Injury Compensation Program (VICP) has awarded billions to those injured by vaccines like MMR and flu, the CICP has awarded 39—out of thousands of applicants. The rejection rate is 99%.
Even pro-vaccine experts agree: CICP is not a fair substitute for the constitutional right to seek justice.
It's time for Congress to act.
The Congressional Research Service has provided an excellent detailed summary of the CICP as well as the more established and effective Vaccine Injury Compensation Program (VICP). It is available for review at: https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/LSB/LSB10584.
COVID-19 Countermeasures Compensation & Recovery Act (CCCRA): Repairing Programs, Restoring Lives
Providing a reasonable remedy to those harmed during a national health emergency is not just important, it is a moral and constitutional imperative that upholds public trust and accountability.
Passing the COVID-19 Countermeasures Compensation & Recovery Act (CCCRA) will bring relief to those left behind by the pandemic and strengthen our preparedness for future emergencies.
- Expand existing 1 year filing window to 3 years for product injury claims (including refiled denials).
- Future claims must be filed within 3 years of symptom onset.
- Presumes similar criteria as the already functioning VICP: a presumption of causation. The defendant has to prove there is a more logical explanation.
- Allows compensation for injuries not included on HHS pre-designated "injury list", with scientific and medical support.
- Includes aggravation of pre-existing conditions.
- Past and future medical expenses
- Lost earnings
- Pain and suffering
- Death benefit (amount TBD)
(Current CICP only allows medical expenses and lost earnings.)
- Establishes an independent medical advisory committee to guide injury determinations and maintain injury tables.
- Allow for faster updates to allowable claims including annual updates to injury tables based on scientific data and public input.
- Claimants have the right to attorney representation.
- Reasonable attorney fees paid by the program.
- Denied claims can be appealed to federal courts.
(Current CICP does not pay attorney fees, nor can denied claims be appealed.)
- User-friendly application process with standardized forms.
- Set review timelines: 90 days for table injuries, 180 days for others. (Timelines to align more with the VICP)
- Creates a COVID-19 Injury Compensation Fund using unused federal COVID-19 relief funds.
- Automatic 1% allocation from federal emergency spending for future public health emergencies.
- Public dashboards and annual reporting on claims and compensation.
- Independent audits every 5 years by the GAO.
- Supports federal research on injury mechanisms, diagnostics, and prevention.
"The countermeasures program['s] largely invisible decisions are 'an incrutable enigma,' said Brain Abramson, an expert on vaccine law." - L.A. Times
In The News
How the CICP Program is Performing
Total Awards:
As of July 1, 2025, 98.9% of applications have been rejected.
Applications:
Only 1/3 of React19’s membership have applied to the program. 41% don’t know what the program even is.
React19 Struggling to Fill the Gap: To date, the U.S. Government have awarded under 39 applicants Covid vaccine injury CICP claims. The average payout is under $5,000. React19 has awarded over $1.2 million in medical grants, for out-of-pocket medical expenses, with donations from everyday Americans.
*React19 is a volunteer organization dedicated to providing physical, financial, and emotional healing to those suffering adverse events after Covid vaccination.
CICP Shortfalls In Depth Look
Finder of Fact and Law:The CICP, as a delegate of the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS), determines the merit of vaccine injured claims. In addition, HHS has actively supported mandating vaccines in numerous contexts and downplayed adverse effects in a purported effort to combat “vaccine hesitancy.” As such, HHS essentially serves as judge, jury, and interested party. Such a system is inherently unjust to the vaccine injured.
Appeals and Judicial Review: The CICP provides no judicial or administrative review.
Limited Benefits: The CICP does not provide for attorneys’ fees, pain and suffering, or punitive damages.
Filing Deadline: CICP claims must be filed within one year of vaccine administration. It often takes over a year for the vaccine injured to get diagnosed appropriately. Many of the vaccine injured are unaware of the program’s existence until after the one-year deadline has passed.
Standard of Proof: The CICP program requires the vaccine injured prove with “compelling, reliable, valid, medical and scientific evidence” that the vaccine directly caused their injury. As COVID vaccine injuries are novel in nature, sufficient evidence simply does yet exist and won't exist for years for the injured to prove their case. And as highlighted above, even the few adverse reactions that are listed on the vaccine package insert have been denied claims by this program.
Why is this urgent? – Needs Currently Not Met
Loss of Work & Income
Medical Supplies / Home Provisions
Housing/Rent Payments
Medical Care Expenses
Conclusion
The CCCRA ensures Americans who suffer rare but serious vaccine or treatment-related injuries are not left behind. By fixing a broken system, it restores public trust and strengthens future emergency preparedness.