WHO Compensation Program for COVID-19 Vaccine Side Effects Launched

The World Health Organization (WHO) this week announced a vaccine injury compensation plan for the 92 low- and middle-income countries that are getting COVID-19 vaccines through its COVAX initiative.

The COVAX program aims to distribute coronavirus vaccines to low- and middle-income nations to help vaccinate their populations and ensure more equitable global vaccine distribution. The new compensation plan offers eligible individuals in these countries “a fast, fair, robust and transparent process to receive compensation for rare but serious adverse events associated with COVAX-distributed vaccines,” giving them “full and final settlement of any claims” without the need to resort to courts of law, the WHO said.

The no-fault compensation program will be up and running online by March 31 and will continue until June 30, 2022. Injured parties can seek compensation even if they suffer the injury before the web portal for the program is available.

Compensation per individual will be determined by multiplying the per capita gross domestic product of the country where the person lives by 12 and then multiplying it again by “a harm factor based on the person’s impairment level, ranging from 0.1 to 1.5 with an expected average of 1.0.

Using this formula, a typical claimant in India, which is one of the 92 COVAX program participants and which had a per-capita GDP of $2,099.60 in 2019, according to the World Bank, would receive $25,195.20—and the most any claimant in that country could receive would be $37,792.80. A resident of Malawi, which had a per-capita GDP of $411.55 in 2019, could receive at most $7,407.90.

“Receivable claims will be assessed by a review panel of nurses and an appeals panel of nurses and physicians established by the independent claims administrator,” the WHO says. “The administrator will also have investigators to collect information related to claims locally. The review and appeals panels will be guided by an expert scientific advisory committee appointed with advice from WHO.”

The program is to be funded by “a small levy on each dose” of vaccine supported by the Gavi-COVAX “advance market commitment” (AMC). Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance is an international vaccine consortium also involved in the COVID-19 inoculation effort.

ESIS, a subsidiary of international insurance company Chubb Ltd., is the independent administrator of the program and will charge no fees to applicants for compensation.

Last week, it was announced that the COVAX initiative would begin distributing vaccines to low- and middle-income nations this month, following WHO’s approval of an emergency-use listing of the AstraZeneca/Oxford vaccine (DID, Feb. 17). — Martin Berman-Gorvine