Lawsuits pile up against BioNTech on alleged Covid vax side effects
The lawsuits against the German-based pharma giant are considered the largest reparation claims it has faced worldwide since the pandemic outbreak.
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BioNTech biotechnology company building where production of the COVID-19 vaccine has started, in Marburg, Germany on Saturday, February 13, 2021. (AP)
A lawsuit filed by a healthcare worker against BioNTech in Germany over alleged harm caused by its Covid-19 vaccine will see its first hearing on Monday.
Represented by the Rogert & Ulbrich law firm, the middle-aged worker is demanding €150,000 ($161,000) in compensation after claiming that she suffered swelling in her arms and legs, fatigue, and sleep disorder, as well as material damages that were not specified.
The law company said it has so far filed around 250 lawsuits on behalf of clients requesting compensation for physical side effects caused by the vaccines.
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Another law firm, Casar-Preller, also announced filing 100 lawsuits on the same basis.
Over two-thirds of the 224 million administered Covid-19 vaccines in Germany were produced by the Mainz-based BioNTech - which pioneered vaccines based on mRNA technology.
The lawsuits, which also included ones filed in Italy, are considered the largest reparation claims that the pharmaceutical giant has faced worldwide since the pandemic outbreak.
BioNTech responded in a statement that the accusations are "baseless" and that it would reject them.
The company added that almost 1.5 billion people around the world, 64 million of which in Germany, have received the vaccine, yet no side effects other than the ones announced by the company have been reported so far.
BioNTech's mRNA vaccine partner
In January, Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla was forced to escape a swarm of journalists while attending the World Economic Forum known as Davos, as they threw uncomfortable questions regarding the side effects of the company's Covid-19 vaccine.
A video of Bourla surfaced of him being bombarded by questions regarding why Pfizer kept revising the effectiveness rate of its vaccine, which kept decreasing. The video was shared on social media by India's Minister of State for Technology, Rajeev Chandrasekhar. "Just to remind all Indians, that Pfizer tried to bully Govt of India into accepting conditions of indemnity," the minister said.
It was reported that the medical company made a massive amount of money off COVID-19 vaccines in 2021.
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Just to remind all Indians, that Pfizer tried to bully Govt of India into accepting conditions of indemity
— Rajeev Chandrasekhar 🇮🇳 (@Rajeev_GoI) January 20, 2023
And Cong trio of Rahul, Chidamabaram n Jairam Ramesh kept pushing case of foreign vaccines during Covid 🤮🤬🥵 https://t.co/nT5LHI07hc
Bourla, who has been the CEO of Pfizer since 2019, evaded questions such as whether Pfizer intends to assume liability for the "ineffective vaccine's" side effects and whether he would issue refunds to countries that purchased it. The CEO merely replied with the phrases "Thank you very much" and "Have a nice day."
