Aren't drug companies just profiting, and protected from lawsuits?
Here is what the checked sources say. Each title links to the original.
The Vaccine Injury Compensation Program and the Office of Special Masters
A 1986 law shields vaccine makers and providers from most lawsuits over covered vaccines. People claiming injury from 16 covered vaccines must first file with a no-fault federal program, paid from a 75-cent excise tax per dose. They can leave after 240 days without a decision, or reject the award, and then sue, though claims over unavoidable side effects are generally barred. Congress created the shield because lawsuits threatened vaccine shortages. COVID-19 vaccines are not covered; their claims go to a separate program, the CICP, with almost 11,000 filed by March 2026. Updated May 2026.
Performance of the United States Vaccine Injury Compensation Program (VICP): 1988-2019
A 2020 review of the US vaccine injury program's first three decades. By late 2019 it had received more than 21,000 petitions, found about 6,900 compensable and dismissed about 11,400, paying about $4.2 billion, roughly 8% in lawyers' fees. About 70% of awards came through negotiated settlements in which the evidence review did not conclude the vaccine caused the injury. With over 3.4 billion doses given in 2006 to 2017, the authors estimate compensation occurred for about one in every million doses, a compensation rate rather than an injury rate.
2024 WHO Global Vaccine Market Report
WHO's report says that in 2023 the global vaccine market was about 7 billion doses worth US$77 billion, and 10 manufacturers took 85% of the value, with Pfizer alone at 25%. COVID-19 vaccines were the top earner at $20 billion. Vaccines made up about 5% of total pharmaceutical revenue that year, and the market shrank by $47 billion from 2022 as COVID-19 sales fell. The report covers sales, not profit margins.