Health fallout hits BioNTech

German courts have begun examining a series of claims over adverse effects suffered after coronavirus vaccinations, more than two years after one of the world's fastest and most extensive inoculation campaigns.

The jabs, developed at breakneck speed and granted early approval for usage, are now the focus of legal claims in countries such as France and Britain as the plaintiffs say the vaccines damaged their health.

In Germany, a court in Hamburg will be the first to hear a case brought against homegrown vaccine manufacturer BioNTech, which, together with US giant Pfizer, produced the first mRNA vaccine Comirnaty.

The claimant reported suffering effects including "pain in the upper body, swelling of the extremities, exhaustion, fatigue and sleeping disorders" after taking the jab.

She is seeking 150,000 euros (HK$1.26 million) in damages and recognition that the "defendant is bound to provide material damages."

Her lawyer Thomas Ulbrich, also representing another 250 people in similar cases, said his clients were "all healthy" before suffering symptoms, allegedly following their jabs.

The inoculations sparked a wave of vaccine skeptics.

Of 192 million jabs given in Germany, its medicines regulator said 338,857 suspected cases of side effects were reported, including 54,879 severe reactions.

Among the worst cases, "the symptoms vary from stroke to thrombosis to cardiac diseases," said another lawyer, Joachim Caesar-Preller, who represents 140 clients.

He is seeking up to one million euros in damages per case - plus interest - but concedes that a "rocky and long road" lies ahead.

A key point is whether the side effects surpass "a justifiable level according to the findings of medical science." In other words, the effects have to be sufficiently serious to be taken into account, said Anatol Dutta, a professor at Munich University.

BioNTech said the number of liability claims is very small compared to the number of doses it has delivered worldwide, and that each claim had to be examined individually.