By: Lailatul-Mubarakah Imam Aliagan* and Mae C. Quinn**
Abstract
Five years ago, the world was in lockdown, seeking protection from dangers presented by the COVID-19 pandemic. At the time, many people were confused and afraid given the lack of information about the disease and its potential impacts. When scientists quickly created vaccines to help inoculate against infection, a collective sigh of relief could be heard across the globe. Yet, much like the disease itself, COVID-19 vaccines arrived on the scene with little in the way of warnings or details. This lack of information included possible injuries that might result from vaccination protocols or processes for addressing claims relating to such injuries.
Indeed, today many still do not know that courts of law in the United States ban legal claims relating to COVID-19 vaccination injuries. Thus, these claims are handled very differently than any other kind of legal cause of action. The same is true in many other countries.
This Article sheds further light on these differences, their origins, and concerns about the implications of specialized ad hoc systems that render COVID-19 vaccine manufacturers largely immune from possible liability. This Article further suggests that COVID-19 vaccine manufacturers, particularly given the massive financial profits they have enjoyed to date, should not receive such expansive legal protections. And, absent other avenues for relief, those who brought about such protections may need to be held to account.
* Lailatul-Mubarakah Imam Aliagan is an international lawyer and scholar studying for her United States Master of Law (LL.M.) degree at the University of Iowa College of Law. A member of the Nigerian bar with a strong background in common law systems, she became interested in COVID-19 injury claims and associated legal implications while doing research with Professor Mae C. Quinn.
** Mae C. Quinn, Professor of Law, Penn State University. Deep gratitude to Lailatul-Mubarakah Imam Aliagan for collaborating on this project. Thanks also to Cari Alonzo Yoder, Jennifer Bard, Kristina Campbell, Jill Engle, Jennifer Hendricks, Luz Herrera, Carla Laroche, Raquel Muniz, Jhody Polk, Tracy Thomas and Sherley Cruz for conversations and encouragement as I worked on this project. Special thanks also to Penn State Law Review editors Ashlyn Browning, Colin Hitt, Katherine Owens, and Drew Weglarz for their tremendous professionalism and top-notch suggestions. I take responsibility for any and all errors.