Sponsors (2)
The bill expands injured individuals' ability to sue and clarifies compensation limits and oversight, but it increases litigation exposure and liability costs for vaccine makers and providers—risks that could raise costs, reduce vaccine access, and complicate emergency responses.
Injured individuals (including veterans and people with chronic conditions) can sue vaccine manufacturers or administrators in State or Federal court beginning on enactment, expanding legal recourse options.
Claimants who obtain a civil judgment cannot then petition the federal vaccine compensation Program (and vice versa), preventing double recovery and clarifying compensation limits for claimants.
Manufacturers and administrators of COVID‑19 vaccines lose eligibility for the broader 'covered countermeasure' emergency liability protections, increasing potential accountability for those products.
Vaccine manufacturers and administrators will face increased litigation risk and potential higher liability costs beginning on enactment, exposing them to more lawsuits and financial exposure.
Patients—especially those with chronic conditions and residents of rural communities—may face reduced vaccine access if higher liability costs lead to higher prices or if providers become less willing to administer vaccines.
Excluding COVID‑19 vaccines from the 'covered countermeasure' definition reduces emergency liability protections for those products and could hinder rapid deployments or public‑health responses in future emergencies.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Removes NVICP's exclusive liability shield so injured persons can sue vaccine administrators and manufacturers in court, while barring double recovery between court awards and Program compensation.
Official title: Amend the Public Health Service Act to end the liability shield for vaccine manufacturers, and for other purposes.
Introduced February 11, 2026 by Rand Paul · Last progress February 11, 2026
Removes the exclusive civil-liability shield in the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program (NVICP) so that people injured by vaccines can sue vaccine administrators and manufacturers in State or Federal court beginning on enactment, while preventing double recovery by barring duplicate claims in court and the NVICP. Makes targeted statutory edits and repeals to the NVICP to implement that change, adjusts related statute-of-limitations and fee-payment language, and revises definitions and cross-references to reflect the new mutual-exclusivity rule.