Vaccine manufacturers are indemnified, at least in the US. If car manufacturers were, I'd wonder if the powers that made it so had something to hide, too.
Although it was just analogy, are you familiar with the Ford Pinto?
The Ford Pinto had a serious safety issue where rear-ending it would lock the doors and explode. They knew about the issue but did not recall it because the cost-benefit analysis told them not-recalling was the most profitable move
So, car manufacturers weren't exactly indemnified, but the costs of doing wrong continue not to be great enough to matter.
Late reply. Viewing comments, I realize my initial comment was a bit too snarky. I was not at all trying to shield the manufacturers from being held responsible for harm from a defective product. I was mostly concerned that people would use the situation to decry all vaccines, denying their benefit. To extend the analogy of the Ford Pinto, I didn't want someone to say that because Ford made a dangerous car, that all cars were bad, that Ford was trying to kill off American citizens, and that one should never ride in or drive a car.
The Ford Pinto had a serious safety issue where rear-ending it would lock the doors and explode. They knew about the issue but did not recall it because the cost-benefit analysis told them not-recalling was the most profitable move
So, car manufacturers weren't exactly indemnified, but the costs of doing wrong continue not to be great enough to matter.