CRS Legal Sidebar Prepared for Members and Committees of Congress Legal Sidebari Compensation Programs for Potential COVID-19 Vaccine Injuries

From the Congressional Research Service:

More than 200 million Americans have received one or more doses of a Coronavirus Disease 2019
(COVID-19) vaccine, along with billions of people worldwide. The Food and Drug Administration’s
(FDA’s) emergency use authorizations for the Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna, and Johnson & Johnson
COVID-19 vaccines were based on months-long clinical trials (including safety monitoring) of each
vaccine, involving tens of thousands of participants. These trials did not identify any safety concerns that
would preclude such authorization. (The Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine subsequently received full
approval from FDA.) Post-authorization, the COVID-19 vaccines have been subject to safety monitoring
requirements by FDA and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to detect long-term or
rare adverse health events. (For more information, see this CRS report.)