Current Status of Vaccine Compensation Legislation and Major Legal Issues

Abstract

As vaccination after break of COVID-19 has been performed, discussions have continued in each country to introduce a justifiable vaccine compensation law. In addition to mandatory vaccinations stipulated by existing laws, COVID-19 vaccines have been urgently vaccinated, and various compensation methods have been introduced in addition to the existing vaccination laws. Among them, the implications of overseas compensation legislation are summarized as follows. First, it is a mitigating interpretation of the causal relationship between action and damage. In the case of the United States, the United Kingdom, and France, a no-fault compensation system that recognizes compensation even if direct causal relations are not identified, and in the case of Germany, the review of causal relations is eased at the screening stage. In the case of Japan and Korea, general theories on causal relations are applied, but experts from separate organizations are participating to ease the criteria for compensation review. Second, compensation through a separate compensation fund is institutionalized. Typically, NVICP and CICP in the U.S. compensate according to the standards stipulated in the vaccine table if they fall under the objective facts of vaccination and damage, and France's National Compensation Office operates a compensation system with funds prepared by vaccine manufacturers and vaccine administrators at the time of vaccination. Third, the scope of damage compensation generally introduces the principle of full compensation. In practice, compensation differs in ways such as following the vaccine table stipulated in the special fund in the United States or compensation based on social security benefits in the United Kingdom, but includes medical expenses as well as lost damages and family compensation. Fourth, an arbitration system or an expert participation system is used in the compensation procedure. In the United States, the ADR system, which calculates the compensation amount led by a special master, is used by the National Secretariat (ONIAM) in the U.K., the Disease and Disability Review Board in Japan, and the Vaccination Damage Compensation Committee in Korea.