Vaccine anyone?

[Sam]

So, we all know there is a reward for the first country to produce THE Covid-19 vaccine, which will save us all and make the world a safer place. But just before you all rush off to sign up for the first batch, I thought I’d share this little nugget of recent news..

:doh :ne_nau: vaccine anyone?

By Peter Andrews, Irish science journalist and writer based in London. He has a background in the life sciences, and graduated from the University of Glasgow with a degree in genetics.

A senior executive for pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca has confirmed that his company cannot face legal action for any potential side effects caused by its Covid vaccine. Those affected will have no legal recourse.

AstraZeneca is one of 25 pharmaceutical companies worldwide already testing their Covid vaccines on humans, in preparation for injecting hundreds of millions of people. These are flush times for Britain’s largest pharmaceutical company, worth something in the order of £70 million. They have just reported bumper profits of $12.6 billion in the last six months alone.

But despite its healthy balance sheet, AstraZeneca is unwilling to be held responsible for any potential side effects of its ‘hopeful’ vaccine candidate. In other words, the company is completely protected, or indemnified, against lawsuits from people who are injected with their vaccine and experience negative effects, regardless of how severe or long-lasting they are

[Karen]

Surely this can’t be right! If you make something and it has side effects you should be accountable for those effects!

[cherry]

But wouldn’t a person check the risk before having the vaccine? Surely if they decide to go ahead knowing the risks, they should not have any comeback on the company.

[Bumblebee]

Surely this can’t be right! If you make something and it has side effects you should be accountable for those effects!

They would be held accountable but it won’t help if you died from taking the vaccine!

[Jackie361]

I will be first in the queue to get a vaccine but personally I think they need to develop the antibody test so you can see how many people have already had it. What’s the point in a vaccination when you could find millions of people have already had Covid.

[Mary03]

Russia have announced they are going to begin vaccination to protect against Covid 19, is it too soon? I will be watching this with interest to see if there are any side effects when the vaccine is rolled out on such a large scale.

[Harry]

Let’s be honest, if the vaccine causes any side affects, would that information ever be released? I think that in the future, when a vaccine is readily available, countries will require proof of vaccination to get into the country.