Lawsuits against Pfizer over its COVID-19 vaccine have been filed by two state attorneys general, a clinical-trial whistleblower, and a biotech company alleging patent infringement, but almost every case has run into the same wall: a federal law that shields vaccine makers from most liability during a declared public health emergency. A Pfizer COVID vaccine lawsuit brought by an individual who believes the shot injured them is, in nearly all circumstances, barred from court and routed instead into a federal compensation program that has paid only a small fraction of the claims filed.
Why It’s So Hard to Sue Pfizer
The Public Readiness and Emergency Preparedness Act, enacted in 2005 and invoked for COVID-19 by HHS Secretary Alex Azar in February 2020, gives manufacturers, distributors, and providers of “covered countermeasures” broad immunity from state and federal claims tied to those products.1Congress.gov. The PREP Act and COVID-19 Liability Immunity That includes tort, malpractice, and wrongful death suits alleging a “causal relationship” to the vaccine.2CNBC. Covid Vaccine Side Effects Compensation
The Act has one narrow opening: a claim for “willful misconduct” that caused death or serious physical injury. The path is deliberately steep. A plaintiff must file only in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, plead with specificity supported by a sworn verification and a physician’s affidavit, exhaust an administrative claim first, and then prove misconduct worse than recklessness by clear and convincing evidence.1Congress.gov. The PREP Act and COVID-19 Liability Immunity
Courts have repeatedly enforced the shield. A Kansas appeals court put it bluntly, holding that “all claims means all claims” when the alleged injury relates to administering a covered countermeasure.3Baker Sterchi. All Claims Means All: The PREP Act Provides Immunity in COVID-19 Vaccination Case In December 2024, HHS extended the COVID-19 PREP Act declaration through December 31, 2029, keeping the immunity in place for years.4CIDRAP. HHS Secretary Extends Duration of COVID PREP Act Declaration
The Texas Attorney General’s Case
In November 2023, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton sued Pfizer under the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act.5Texas Attorney General. Attorney General Ken Paxton Sues Pfizer for Misrepresenting COVID-19 Vaccine Efficacy The state’s core allegations:
- Pfizer’s widely publicized 95% efficacy figure came from “relative risk reduction” in short-term trial data, a framing the FDA has flagged as potentially misleading.
- Pfizer could not accurately predict how long protection would last beyond two months but fostered the impression that it was durable.
- The clinical trials did not measure whether the vaccine prevented transmission, yet Pfizer promoted it as a way to protect others.
- Pfizer conspired with social media platforms to suppress vaccine critics, labeling them as spreading “misinformation.”5Texas Attorney General. Attorney General Ken Paxton Sues Pfizer for Misrepresenting COVID-19 Vaccine Efficacy
In December 2024, U.S. District Judge Sam Cummings dismissed the case, ruling that Pfizer is protected by the PREP Act.6KCBD. Lubbock Judge Dismisses Paxton’s Lawsuit Against Pfizer Paxton appealed to the Fifth Circuit on January 8, 2025.7Texas Attorney General. Attorney General Ken Paxton Continues Lawsuit Against Pfizer The appeal, No. 25-10182, is pending. In June 2025, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce filed an amicus brief urging affirmance, arguing that PREP Act immunity reaches marketing and promotion claims.8U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Texas v. Pfizer, Inc.
The Kansas Attorney General’s Case
Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach sued Pfizer in Thomas County, Kansas in June 2024. The Kansas complaint focuses on specific health risks, alleging that Pfizer concealed evidence linking the vaccine to pregnancy complications, myocarditis, and pericarditis, while marketing the vaccine as “safe and effective.”9Kansas Attorney General. Kansas Attorney General Lawsuit Against Pfizer The FDA added a myocarditis and pericarditis warning to the vaccine’s label in June 2021.10Reuters. Kansas Accuses Pfizer of Misleading Public About Covid Vaccine
Pfizer removed the case to federal court, but on May 14, 2025, U.S. District Judge Crabtree sent it back to Kansas state court. Pfizer has said the ruling addresses jurisdiction only, remains subject to appeal, and that the claims lack merit.11KCTV5. Case Filed Against Pfizer Over COVID Vaccine Marketing to Be Heard at State Level The Kansas theory frames the claims as marketing violations under state consumer protection law rather than injury claims arising from the vaccine, which could give it a better shot at surviving PREP Act preemption than the Texas case did.
The Brook Jackson Whistleblower Case
Brook Jackson, a former regional director at Ventavia Research Group, a Pfizer clinical trial contractor, filed a False Claims Act suit alleging that protocol violations during the vaccine trial amounted to fraud on the federal government. Jackson said Ventavia fired her shortly after she reported data-quality concerns to the FDA.12Bloomberg Law. Pfizer Defeats Whistleblower Suit Over COVID-19 Clinical Trial
The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas dismissed the case with prejudice in August 2024, finding that the alleged procedural lapses did not meet the threshold for a False Claims Act suit. The federal government itself filed a statement supporting dismissal.12Bloomberg Law. Pfizer Defeats Whistleblower Suit Over COVID-19 Clinical Trial13CourtListener. United States of America ex rel. Brook Jackson v. Ventavia Research Group Filings suggest Jackson is pursuing a Fifth Circuit appeal, with no ruling reported.14Supreme Court of the United States. Application for Extension to File Cert Petition
The Allele Biotechnology Patent Case
In October 2020, Allele Biotechnology and Pharmaceuticals sued Pfizer and BioNTech in the Southern District of California, claiming they used Allele’s patented fluorescent protein tool, mNeonGreen, without permission to track their vaccine candidate in trial blood samples.15IPWatchdog. Pfizer Rejects Accusations It Infringed COVID-19 Vaccine Assay Technology Pfizer’s “safe harbor” defense for FDA-related research was rejected and a jury trial was scheduled, but the parties settled first. Judge Marilyn Huff granted joint dismissal on January 5, 2022. Terms were not disclosed.16Bloomberg Law. Allele, Pfizer Call Truce in Patent Dispute Over Covid-19 Vaccine
If You Believe the Vaccine Injured You
The PREP Act blocks personal injury lawsuits against Pfizer in court. The only real alternative is the Countermeasures Injury Compensation Program (CICP), a federal administrative program run by the Health Resources and Services Administration.
The numbers tell you what to expect. As of March 2026, 14,129 COVID-19 vaccine-related claims had been filed with the CICP. Of decided claims, only 95 were found eligible for compensation, and just 44 had actually received payment.17HRSA. CICP Data That’s roughly a 1% compensation rate on decided claims. Total payments for COVID-19 injuries came to about $400,000. Historically, 75% of all CICP awards have been under $10,000.18KFF. Federal Vaccine Injury Compensation Programs Overview and Current Issues Common reasons for denial include missing the program’s one-year filing deadline and failing to submit required medical records.
Unlike the better-known National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program (VICP), which covers routine childhood vaccines, the CICP does not pay for pain and suffering, does not cover attorneys’ fees, and its decisions cannot be appealed to a court.2CNBC. Covid Vaccine Side Effects Compensation A December 2024 Government Accountability Office report found the program took an average of 24 months to complete a review, citing staffing shortages, outdated information systems, and limited scientific evidence for determining whether new countermeasures caused particular injuries.19GAO. CICP COVID-19 Claims Report HRSA has been working on a COVID-19 injury table that would presume causation for certain conditions and speed reviews, but as of 2026 that table had not been published.18KFF. Federal Vaccine Injury Compensation Programs Overview and Current Issues
Will Congress Change the Rules
Bills introduced in 2022 and 2023, including H.R. 5142 and H.R. 5143, would have moved COVID-19 vaccine injury claims from the CICP to the VICP within 60 days, giving claimants a longer statute of limitations, pain and suffering damages, and attorneys’ fees. None advanced. COVID-19 vaccines are set to stay under the CICP through at least the end of 2029, matching the extended PREP Act declaration.18KFF. Federal Vaccine Injury Compensation Programs Overview and Current Issues
For now, Pfizer’s exposure is narrow. The Fifth Circuit’s ruling in the Texas appeal could clarify whether state consumer protection claims can survive the PREP Act. The Kansas case may test the same question in state court. Individual claims stay channeled into an administrative program that pays fewer than one in a hundred applicants, and no legislative change is in sight.