Britain Protects COVID Vaccine Maker From Prosecution
By Stefan J. Bos, Special Correspondent Worthy News
(Worthy News) – The British government has granted Pfizer a legal indemnity protecting it from being sued for possible side effects of its new coronavirus vaccine.
The move enables the pharmaceutical giant to start distributing its COVID-19 serum across the nation as early as next week, officials said.
Britain’s Department of Health and Social Care confirmed the firm was given legal protection amid fresh concerns about coronavirus vaccines.
Authorities also granted civil immunity to Pfizer after the government changed the regulations following a short three-week consultation in September, media reported.
However, Ben Osborn, Pfizer’s UK managing director, declined to explain to reporters why his company needed an indemnity. “We’re not actually disclosing any of the details around any of the aspects of that agreement and specifically around the liability clauses.”
IMPACTING
Church leaders have also expressed concerns that vaccines are made with stem cells or other human material, which could raise some ethical questions.
However, Pfizer claimed in published remarks “there has been no human material nor animal products used in the development of our potential COVID-19 vaccine.”
Both leading COVID-19 vaccines rely on the same platform: messenger RNA. This technique has never been used in an approved vaccine before.
There was no evidence yet of any long-term side effects, but they can’t be ruled out either.
CONTROVERSIES REMAIN
The fragility of mRNA makes it unlikely to linger in the body but any vaccine could theoretically cause disruptions in the immune system, experts warned.
In test trials, Pfizer reported 3.8 percent of the recipients felt fatigued and 2 percent experienced headaches.
These symptoms are classified as Grade 3 or “severe” adverse events because they can interfere with daily activity.
Competitor Moderna reported more Grade 3 side effects. There was fatigue in 9.7 percent of recipients, muscle pain in 8.9 percent, joint pain in 5.2 percent, headache in 4.5 percent, pain in 4.1 percent, and redness at the injection site in 2 percent.
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