Republicans in the House of Representatives are urging President Joe Biden to explain whether or not the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) will eliminate COVID-19 vaccine manufacturers’ legal immunity from potential vaccine-related injuries.
“It is utterly unjust to the American people to not only use the coercive arm of the government to force vaccines upon them, but to then provide little legal recourse for damages should they be adversely affected,” 16 Republicans, led by Texas Rep. Michael Cloud, wrote to Biden in a Monday letter, obtained exclusively by the Daily Caller. In addition to eliminating the legal immunity for pharmaceutical companies, the representatives also urge Biden to end the vaccine mandates promulgated by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).
Both the Trump and Biden administrations have used the Public Readiness and Emergency Preparedness (PREP) Act to develop and distribute COVID-19 vaccines. In addition to granting pharmaceutical companies legal immunity from injuries potentially caused by their vaccines, the Trump administration used the law to expand telehealth services and cut through regulations. The Biden administration employed the PREP Act to allow dentists, veterinarians and paramedics to distribute COVID-19 vaccines. (RELATED: Biden HHS Authorizes Veterinarians, Medical Students To Administer Coronavirus Vaccines)
Then-HHS Secretary Alex Azar’s PREP declaration runs through September 2024.
“Vaccine mandates have no place in a free society. The enforcement of Americans to unwillingly inject themselves with an experimental vaccine in order to work, travel or participate in commerce is nothing short of tyrannical,” Cloud said in a statement. “If this administration believes these vaccines are safe and effective enough to mandate, then let’s remove the full-blown legal immunity given to manufacturers for ‘experimental drugs.’ The American people should be able to take legal action when necessary against a mandated experimental vaccine. Let’s end the mandates and allow Americans to choose what health options are in their best interest.”
Several federal courts have ruled against the Biden administration’s vaccine mandates. Judges on the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals described the OSHA mandate as “staggeringly overbroad,” in their response to a lawsuit filed by several Republican-controlled states. Federal judges also blocked mandates for federal employees and contractors, as well as employees of medical service providers who accept Medicare.
The U.S. Appeals Court for the Sixth Circuit reinstated Biden’s private business vaccine or testing requirement Friday.
Read the letter here:
CV-Biden Re Vaccine Mandate and Liability Protections_12.20.2021 by Michael Ginsberg on Scribd