No-Fault Vaccine Injury Compensation Systems Adopted Pursuant to the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency Response

No-fault vaccine injury compensation systems have developed over the course of the twentieth century, mostly in the richest countries in the world. Acknowledging that severe reactions to vaccines are rare, but can result in serious and sometimes complex injury, these systems provide financial and social support for those suffering these rare side effects. During the COVID-19 pandemic, and the rapid development and deployment of vaccines using novel technologies, these systems have proliferated not only among wealthy countries, where in their modern form they originated and spread, but also low- and middle-income ones. Adopting varying approaches to funding, eligibility, administration, process, and components of compensation and rights of appeal, these new systems offer protections to populations in low- and middle-income countries that until 2020 covered only those in relatively wealthy states, especially Europe and North America.

The purpose of this Article is twofold. First, it provides the first comprehensive landscape analysis of no-fault vaccine injury compensation systems since before the COVID-19 pandemic. That analysis identifies twenty-five such systems, almost all of which were established for routine immunizations. Second, it provides an accessible resource for advocates and planners in low- and middle-income countries that may benefit from an analysis of administrative, funding, eligibility, and compensation alternatives that they may consult when considering whether and how to construct their own no-fault vaccine injury compensation systems.