By Michael Nevradakis, Ph.D.
A government-run COVID-19 vaccine injury compensation program with nearly 10,000 pending claims faces the threat of a budget cut for the 2026 fiscal year.
The Trump administration’s proposed budget would eliminate funding for the Countermeasures Injury Compensation Program (CICP), TrialSite News reported last week. If approved, the program would be forced to operate on “carryover funds” — or unspent funds from previous years.
According to TrialSite News:
“With no civil court recourse under the PREP Act, downgrading CICP funding leaves injured individuals with limited legal avenues and uncertain financial relief. This undermines public trust in vaccine policy, risks fueling hesitancy, and may deter future claim filings altogether.
“The decision to drop new CICP funding was hidden in budget pages — no public announcements or detailed breakdown of carryover metrics. How much carryover exists? How long will it last? What if claim volume increases?”
CICP was established under the Public Readiness and Emergency Preparedness Act (PREP Act) of 2005.
Under a PREP Act declaration, issued during an official public health emergency such as the COVID-19 pandemic, manufacturers of vaccines and other countermeasures associated with a health emergency are exempt from liability for serious injuries or death caused by their products — except in cases of willful misconduct.
That means people who believe they were injured by one of these products can’t sue the manufacturer. Instead, they can apply to the CICP for compensation.
However, even if successful, claimants often receive limited compensation from CICP. By law, the program can reimburse only those medical expenses not compensated by insurance or other programs.
It can also reimburse for lost employment income (capped at $50,000 per year) and a one-time benefit of $370,000 for deaths.
The program does not reimburse legal fees or provide compensation for pain and suffering.
According to the latest CICP data, COVID-19 countermeasures account for 96% of the 14,413 total claims filed with CICP since 2010.
Although the Biden administration declared the COVID-19 public health emergency over in May 2023, Biden extended the liability shield for COVID-19 countermeasures through the end of 2029.
More than 4,000 claims denied
For fiscal year 2025, CICP received $7 million. According to TrialSite News, CICP’s existing carryover funds would allow the program to process an estimated 2,000 claims — about 22% of the current backlog — and pay out roughly $3 million in total compensation during the year.
In May, CICP paid five COVID-19 vaccine injury claims. But the program denied dozens of claims, and thousands more remained pending as of June 1.
According to statistics released last week, the newly approved claims total $68,529.95. They include:
- Two myopericarditis claims of $39,043.00 and $6,028.08.
- One myocarditis claim of $19,283.54.
- One angioedema claim of $2,748.31.
- One anaphylaxis claim of $1,427.02.
Of the 13,836 claims related to COVID-19 countermeasures filed to date, 75 were found eligible for compensation. As of June 1, 39 of those have been compensated.
The overwhelming majority of claims were denied (4,338) or are “pending review or in review” (9,423).
COVID compensation claims dropping
CICP’s statistics show a decrease in COVID-19-related compensation claims being filed, according to Wayne Rohde, author of “The Vaccine Court: The Dark Truth of America’s Vaccine Injury Compensation Program” and “The Vaccine Court 2.0.”
Rohde wrote on Substack that 42 claims were filed between May 1 and June 1. Of those, 98.3% were denied.
“Most have given up hope that the CICP will compensate,” he wrote.
Rohde told The Defender that declining public uptake of the COVID-19 vaccine and CICP’s strict one-year statute of limitations also contributed to the decline in new claims.
Rohde said CICP has compensated only one COVID-19-related death benefit and has disbursed only three death benefits since the program was established. Earlier this year, CICP paid over $2.5 million for a COVID-19 vaccine-related injury claim associated with thrombosis with thrombocytopenia syndrome, a blood-clotting disorder linked to COVID-19 vaccines.
In May, CICP reimbursed only its second claim involving Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) — an autoimmune condition that occurs when the immune system attacks the peripheral nerves — even though “GBS is a common alleged injury,” Rohde noted.
Not all COVID-19-related claims filed with CICP involve vaccine injuries.
As of June 1, 3,119 petitions alleged injury from COVID-19 countermeasures, involving the use of “ventilators, anti-viral drugs or other medical devices,” Rohde said. “And not one petition has been deemed compensable. They are just sitting in a backlog.”