Are benefits and/or compensation available to health care workers who are injured while administering the smallpox vaccine?
Under the Smallpox Emergency Personnel Protection Act (SEPPA), a federal law enacted on April 30, 2003, health care workers and emergency responders who are injured as the result of the administration of smallpox countermeasures, including administering the vaccine, in the case of a threat of or an incident of a smallpox outbreak, are provided benefits and/or compensation from a federally funded program, administered by HHS, which are secondary to any other coverage the individual may have. SEPPA will also provide benefits and/or compensation to certain eligible individuals who are injured as a result of accidental exposure to the vaccinia virus through contact with a vaccination site before it has healed or by touching bandages or clothing that have become contaminated with the vaccinia virus from the vaccination site. Source: CDC Smallpox/Benefits and Compensation for Smallpox Vaccine Injuries, 5/28/03.
