Compensation For Serious Covax Vaccines Side Effects Approved By WHO

By Clinton Ochieng

Countries like Kenya which has people living in the low and middle class will have their citizens compensated if they develop adverse side effects from any of the vaccines delivered through the Covax facility.

The WHO agreed to cover claims of serious side effects that might be reported from the use of Covid-19 vaccines in any of the 92 advanced market commitment countries receiving doses from the Covid-19 Vaccines Global Access (Covax) facility. These countries are mostly in Africa and Southeast Asia.

The agreement resolves a big concern among recipient governments which have been required to sign indemnity agreements before receiving the vaccines.

This agreement paves way for countries to import vaccines from the Covax facility after the World Health Organization (WHO) issued a no-fault compensation plan for claims related to adverse effects from vaccines.

A no-fault compensation scheme is one in which accidents and injuries are regarded as inevitable, and the emphasis is on compensating victims for related expenses without anyone having to enter the civil justice system and proving another party is liable for damages.

The WHO announced that it has signed an agreement with Chubb Limited, global insurance, and reinsurance company to offer the no-fault compensation program, which the UN agency termed as the first and only vaccine injury compensation mechanism operating on an international scale.

The WHO agreed plan is designed to cover serious side effects linked to any Covax-distributed vaccines until June 30, 2022. According to the statement, the program will be financed initially from donor funding to the Advance Market Commitment (AMC) as an extra charge on all doses of Covid-19 vaccines distributed through Covax.

The facility intends to deliver at least 1.3 billion doses to the 92 AMC-eligible countries in 2021.