Tag: HHS

EUA: May Employers and Universities Require COVID-19 Vaccinations?

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)1 Comment

May Employers and Universities Require COVID-19 Vaccinations?

“At present, there is nothing in federal law that should preclude vaccination requirements for returns to workplaces and campuses.”

Federal law prohibits employers and others from requiring vaccination with a Covid-19 vaccine distributed under an EUA

When the FDA grants emergency use authorization for a vaccine, many questions about the product cannot be answered. Given the open questions, when Congress granted the authority to issue EUAs, it chose to require that every individual should be allowed to decide for himself or herself whether or not to receive an EUA product. The FDA and CDC apparently consider this fundamental requirement of choice important enough that even during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic they reinforced that policy decision when issuing their guidance related to the Covid-19 vaccines.

[2020] You can’t sue Pfizer or Moderna if you have severe Covid vaccine side effects. The government likely won’t compensate you for damages either

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

You can’t sue Pfizer or Moderna if you have severe Covid vaccine side effects. The government likely won’t compensate you for damages either

You also can’t sue the Food and Drug Administration for authorizing a vaccine for emergency use, nor can you hold your employer accountable if they mandate inoculation as a condition of employment.

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In February, Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar invoked the Public Readiness and Emergency Preparedness Act. The 2005 law empowers the HHS secretary to provide legal protection to companies making or distributing critical medical supplies, such as vaccines and treatments, unless there’s “willful misconduct” by the company. The protection lasts until 2024.

One-China policy ‘null & void’? Trump creates diplomatic hot potato for Biden as Pompeo ends all restrictions on Taiwan relations

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

One-China policy ‘null & void’? Trump creates diplomatic hot potato for Biden as Pompeo ends all restrictions on Taiwan relations

The predicament is not unlike one that Trump faced when President Barack Obama expelled 35 Russian diplomats from the US on New Year’s Eve in 2016. When Trump took office a few weeks later, he tried to avoid being seen as soft on Moscow after being accused of getting elected with Russia’s help.

Related:

US cancels top envoy’s visit to Taiwan

Palantir will soon help the FDA evaluate drugs, including COVID-19 treatments

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

Palantir will soon help the FDA evaluate drugs, including COVID-19 treatments

Although it isn’t clear if the Biden administration will continue to expand federal work with Palantir, the process of distributing vaccines provides another logistical opportunity for the controversial company. Tracking which individuals have received both doses of a vaccine is work that sounds very much in Palantir’s wheelhouse.

People who get injured from COVID-19 vaccines could have a hard time getting compensated

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

People who get injured from COVID-19 vaccines could have a hard time getting compensated

Not only does CICP deny compensation for pain and suffering and attorney’s fees, and the right to appeals, it prohibits litigants from holding hearings and introducing evidence and expert testimony. Another CICP disadvantage, Pop said, is that the only the government’s own expert can form the basis for what constitutes a permissible claim. Therefore, he said, under the CICP program, it seems highly unlikely that any individual with a reaction that’s not “open and notorious, even though rare,” could ever get any kind of compensation.