The General Council of Insurance Mediators has observed a 40% increase in inquiries about insurance policies for the Covid-19 vaccine that cover the possible negative effects of its inoculation.
The autonomous communities where there is a greater number of consultations are Madrid, Catalonia, and the Valencian Community, with the age group between 50 and 65 years being the most concerned with this situation.
Insurance mediators have explained that this increase in consultations is due to the presumed consequences that some vaccines are having on certain people and that has led several European countries to restrict their application or stop it totally or partially.
Just yesterday, the Ministry of Health and the autonomous communities agreed to suspend AstraZeneca’s formula temporarily in those under 60 years of age after the final report of the European Medicines Agency, which has formally recognized the relationship between the Anglo-Swedish formula and cases of unusual thrombi.
In the opinion of the mediators, “the contradictory information about vaccines is causing a situation of uncertainty that, together with fear about the impact of the pandemic on the public health system, has led to an exponential increase in the contracting of health policies.”
At the moment, despite the general exclusion in the event of a pandemic, many insurers are covering their own contingencies and those derived from Covid-19, without being obliged to.
For the General Council of Mediators, “although the companies are doing a good job, the coverage is not yet generalized and there is a great disparity of criteria between the different companies.”
Due to the speed of the research process for the development of the vaccine, pharmaceutical companies have stated that in the long term there may be unknown effects harmful to health, which is why they requested compensation for damages caused by effects unidentified adverse events.
To ensure that its citizens could access the vaccine as soon as possible, the European Parliament decided to take responsibility for repairing this damage.
International program
The General Council of Mediators has recalled that last February the World Health Organization (WHO) signed an agreement with the insurer Chubb, on behalf of the COVAX Mechanism, to launch a compensation program aimed at 92 low-income countries and median.
This program is the first and only compensation mechanism for vaccine injuries operating on an international scale. It offers people who meet certain requirements, a fast process to be compensated for serious adverse consequences related to the vaccines distributed by COVAX until June 30, 2022.
By offering a lump sum no-fault award for full and final settlement of any claim, the COVAX Program seeks to significantly reduce the need to go to court, a process that can be lengthy and costly.
What to do if you are charged or receive a bill for the COVID-19 vaccine
If you have health insurance, first contact your insurance plan. If they don’t solve your problem, you can file a complaint with the Office of the Commissioner of Insurance.
If you do not have health insurance, providers cannot charge you to give you the vaccine, and if they do, they would not be meeting the requirements of the COVID-19 vaccination program.
