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  • You're looking at video of Sandra Lindsay, an intensive care nurse,

  • receiving the first vaccination at Long Island Jewish Medical Center in

  • New York. The U.S.

  • began vaccinating the population against the coronavirus in December of

  • 2020. The goal is to get the Covid vaccine to every person in the U.S.

  • who wants one. But survey data shows that nearly 40% of the U.S.

  • population doesn't want it.

  • Widespread mistrust might have something to do with the fact that if

  • anything goes wrong with the vaccine, the drug makers that produce them

  • aren't responsible.

  • This is a remarkable circumstance.

  • It's certainly not like anything anybody's ever seen before.

  • That means that companies like Pfizer and Moderna have total immunity

  • against lawsuits related to injuries resulting from taking the Covid

  • vaccines. Meanwhile, employers are legally allowed to require employees to

  • get immunized against the virus.

  • Requiring a vaccine is a health and safety work rule and employers can do

  • that. Ultimately, if we want any chance and returning to life is normal,

  • mass vaccination is going to be critical.

  • So how do you convince the public to take a vaccine made in record time,

  • using technology that's never before been licensed?

  • And is anyone to blame if something goes wrong?

  • Frontrunners Pfizer and Moderna built their Covid vaccines with a new kind

  • of technology that's never before been licensed in the U.S.

  • Typically a vaccine puts a weakened or inactivated virus into our bodies to

  • trigger an immune response.

  • But the coronavirus vaccine relies on messenger RNA, which contains a

  • piece of genetic code with instructions for our body.

  • The mRNA tells our cells to make a protein.

  • The same protein that's a spike on top of the actual Coronavirus.

  • This is what triggers the immune response to Covid-19, which then produces

  • antibodies. Those antibodies are what ultimately protect us from getting

  • infected if we ever encounter the real thing.

  • Both companies have said that taking their vaccines could result in side

  • effects similar to mild covid symptoms like muscle pain, chills and a

  • headache. Even those side effects of the vaccine resemble Covid-19

  • symptoms, it's impossible to contract the coronavirus from the vaccine

  • because the mRNA vaccines that Pfizer and Moderna are making don't use the

  • live virus. I experienced stiffness pain in my left arm where I had gotten

  • the vaccine, but it was mild.

  • The second dose was a different story for Batalvi.

  • After the injection, I had the same side effects as the first.

  • So the localized pain, stiffness, there was a little bit worse.

  • More significant symptoms presented that evening.

  • I had developed a low grade fever and stuff associated with that.

  • So the fatigue had worsened.

  • I had gotten chills.

  • Other trial participants from both the Pfizer and Moderna studies have

  • reported similar issues after the second shot.

  • One Pfizer trial participant told CNBC that after the booster shot, he woke

  • up with chills, shaking so hard he cracked a tooth.

  • For him, it hurt to even just lay in his bed sheet.

  • But this kind of reaction isn't the norm.

  • Both of these vaccines are about 95% effective, but it's still unclear how

  • long this protection lasts, which is what worries some doctors more than

  • the potential for any sort of long-term side effects.

  • There is a concern that once the initial response against the vaccine

  • wanes, that we might see more disease.

  • And that is why all the Phase 3 clinical trials against Covid

  • continue to run, even after demonstrating the early efficacy.

  • One major benefit of the mRNA technology is how quickly it can be

  • developed. And that is one of the reasons why the messenger RNA technology

  • was sort of first in line right after knowing the virus' genetic sequence.

  • But the Covid vaccine's faster manufacturing timeline is part of what has

  • been fueling widespread fear that it's unsafe to get the shot.

  • Experts, however, say the process was no less rigorous than usual.

  • A lot of the steps that would occur in sequence in the past, has been

  • occurring in parallel during Covid, but they were not eliminated in terms

  • of determining the safety of the vaccine.

  • The FDA may have cleared the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine for emergency use.

  • But mass adoption? It's not guaranteed.

  • Roughly 4 in 10 Americans say they would "definitely or probably not" get a

  • vaccine. While this is lower than it was two months ago, to achieve herd

  • immunity, experts say that about 70% of the population needs to be

  • vaccinated or have natural antibodies.

  • Central to closing the trust gap is a robust and reliable national

  • education campaign.

  • The Department of Health and Human Services is slated to spend $250 million

  • in taxpayer money on this effort.

  • But this push by the federal government to educate the public has been

  • plagued by controversy.

  • For everything from allegedly trying to politicize the message, to concern

  • over the lengthy delay and rolling out the targeted messaging that was

  • promised. At least 15 states told NBC News in early December, they weren't

  • waiting for the HHS campaign.

  • Instead, they launched their own communication campaigns to expedite the

  • message. The private sector is also playing a big role.

  • It's everyone's responsibility.

  • And what we do know is that pharmacy and pharmacists are actually in

  • everyone's community.

  • We have pharmacists who are within 5 miles of probably 90% of Americans.

  • Really, pharmacists are up there as one of the most trusted health care

  • professionals. And the survey recently said that 3 of 4 Americans

  • basically said they trust pharmacists to administer their Covid-19

  • vaccine. Closing the Covid vaccine trust gap will prove especially

  • difficult in communities of color, which have been hit hardest by the

  • pandemic. Black Americans, for example, are dying from Covid-19 it almost

  • 3 times the rate of White Americans in the U.S.

  • That's part of why federal health officials have talked about giving

  • priority access to the vaccine to people of color.

  • But there is an overwhelming resistance to inoculation.

  • A survey released at the end of November 2020, found that only 14% of Black

  • Americans "mostly or completely trust" a Covid vaccine will be safe and 18

  • % trust that it will be effective in shielding them from the Coronavirus.

  • We've had continued mistrust because of people who have been frankly abused

  • within the health care system.

  • Not treated respectfully, not approaching a culturally competent manner,

  • denied access to care.

  • Experts say the memory of the Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment has also fueled

  • suspicion. For 40 years, starting in 1932, the U.S.

  • Public Health Service used Black men to conduct a study of the progression

  • of the lethal Syphilis disease.

  • And because of racism, overt racism and even microinsults that have

  • occurred to people of color in the health system.

  • You know, people developed a degree of mistrust.

  • Combating this narrative may take a more targeted approach.

  • The National Medical Association, of which Benjamin is a member, is

  • convening a group of Black doctors for an expert task force that will

  • independently assess the safety and efficacy of Covid-19 vaccines.

  • We know that patients trust their doctors, and many of the surveys have

  • shown that if their physician recommends it, they are much more likely to

  • take the vaccine. If you suffer severe side effects after getting the

  • vaccine, there's basically no one to blame in a U.S.

  • court of law. Take the vaccine makers.

  • Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar invoked the Public Readiness

  • and Emergency Preparedness Act in February of 2020, which protects the

  • makers of Covid products such as vaccines and treatments from legal

  • action. This protection lasts until 2024.

  • Essentially, in order to encourage companies to get into the space, to

  • develop vaccines for the good of the public, for public health.

  • The government comes up with a program which immunizes those companies

  • from liability for any injuries or damages caused by taking the vaccine.

  • That means for the next four years, companies like Pfizer and Moderna can't

  • be sued for money damages in court over injuries related to the

  • administration or use of products to treat or protect against Covid-19.

  • But drug makers, like Pfizer, continue to reassure the public no shortcuts

  • were taken. This vaccine is getting approved by all authorities in the

  • world, so that should say something to them.

  • Pfizer and Moderna did not return CNBC's request for comment on their legal

  • protections. But remember, it was the FDA that actually cleared the

  • vaccine for use.

  • So does the federal government bear any responsibility?

  • You can't sue the FDA for approving or disapproving a drug, that's part of

  • its sovereign immunity.

  • Sovereign immunity traces back to British law before the American

  • Revolution. You couldn't sue the king.

  • The U.S. adopted that same principle.

  • There are limited exceptions, but legal experts say they don't provide a

  • viable legal path to hold the government responsible for a Covid vaccine

  • injury. And the workplace now introduces a unique set of legal challenges

  • related to the vaccine.

  • Once the FDA upgrades its emergency authorization to a full approval in a

  • few months from now, there's speculation that employers could require

  • staff to get inoculated.

  • The clients of mine that are most interested in making a mandatory vaccine

  • a condition of employment are brick and mortar operations that have a lot

  • of foot traffic from their customers.

  • They view it as a selling point.

  • Look, you can come to our business location and it's safe because all

  • employees have been vaccinated.

  • That's particularly important for restaurants, bars, gyms and salons.

  • While this is in part a PR tactic, it is also legally within an employer's

  • rights to roll out this kind of requirement.

  • Requiring a vaccine is a health and safety work rule and employers can do

  • that. Now, some employees could apply to be exempt from a blanket

  • requirement. If a workforce is unionized, the collective bargaining

  • agreement may require negotiating with the union before mandating a

  • vaccine. Anti-Discrimination laws also provide some protections, but legal

  • experts say that if an employee is forced to get a vaccine and suffers a

  • debilitating injury from it, claims would be routed through workers

  • compensation programs and treated as an on the job injury.

  • So if you're looking for accountability, you're probably going to have to

  • use other accountability tools beside the court.

  • If you're looking for compensation, you should use a government

  • compensation program. The National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program,

  • better known by the name "Vaccine Court", is relatively easy to use and

  • generous in terms of what it's willing to pay out to those who are

  • eligible. But because the Covid vaccine has not yet been recommended for

  • routine administration to pregnant women or children, it doesn't qualify.

  • Another program, and the only real pool of cash available to those harmed

  • by the Covid vaccine is a fund attached to the PREP Act.

  • The so-called Countermeasures Injury Compensation Program has been around

  • for a decade, but experts specializing in vaccine law say it's a lot more

  • difficult to navigate.

  • The problem with the PREP Act is that it's attached to a government

  • compensation program that's very hard to use, where the bar for

  • compensation is very high.

  • Since the program began 10 years ago, the CICP has only compensated 29

  • claims, totaling more than $6 million.

  • If a case for compensation through the CICP is successful however, the

  • program provides up to $50,000/year for reimbursed lost wages and any

  • out-of-pocket medical expenses.

  • It won't cover legal fees nor anything to compensate for pain and or

  • suffering. It's also capped at the death benefit of $370,376, which is

  • the most that a surviving family member receives in the event that a Covid

  • vaccine proves to be fatal.

  • There's also a strict one year statute, meaning that all claims have to be

  • filed within 12 months of getting the vaccine.

  • People who are harmed by Covid-19 vaccine deserve to be compensated.

  • Compensated fast and generously.

  • The PREP Act doesn't do that.

  • The HRSA declined CNBC's request for an interview.

  • Reiss says the best fix is to change the rulebook of the National Vaccine

  • Injury Compensation Program.

  • An easy solution is to say: "Anyone harmed by the Covid-19 vaccine is

  • compensated under that program.

  • But that will require legislative change.

  • Should that legislative change happen, lawyers tell CNBC that there usually

  • is a retroactive provision once a new vaccine is added to the VICP.

  • That would be good news for those injured by the Covid vaccine, who would

  • then have access to a much larger pool of cash that has a better track

  • record for rewarding compensation.

  • But for now, it remains to be seen whether Congress will actually make the

  • change, meaning that compensation options are limited.

  • I'm hoping people don't look at this and say: "Heck, I'm limited in what I

  • can recover in the event of a serious injury or the event of any injury.

  • So I'm not going to take it or it's not overreaching by the government

  • whatsoever. It's the government doing what it should be doing, which is

  • protecting the public health, generally.

You're looking at video of Sandra Lindsay, an intensive care nurse,

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