Pursuant to the Public Readiness and Emergency Preparedness (PREP) Act, the Secretary of HHS has issued a Declaration (and amendments) concerning medical countermeasures against COVID-19, which declared that COVID-19 vaccines are covered countermeasures for the purposes of liability protection under the PREP Act. If all requirements set forth in the Secretary's declaration are met, a covered person is immune from liability except for "willful misconduct" with respect to all claims for loss caused by, arising out of, relating to, or resulting from the manufacture, testing, development, distribution, administration, and use of a COVID-19 vaccine.
The PREP Act created the CICP to provide compensation to individuals who sustain a covered serious physical injury or death as a direct result of the administration or use of a covered countermeasure (or to estates and certain survivors of such individuals).
For more information about the PREP Act, visit the Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response website.