The Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) on Tuesday announced its COVID-19 vaccine-related injury compensation package.
PhilHealth Vice President for Corporate Affairs Shirley Domingo said the package was created in line with the Vaccination Program Act of 2021 which provides an indemnity fund for persons who will experience serious adverse reactions to vaccines.
The compensation package provides a maximum of P100,000 for hospitalization resulting from COVID-19 immunization.
“The claim corresponds to remaining charges on top of PhilHealth benefits and other health benefits provided by private health insurances and health management organizations,” Domingo said.
A lump sum of P100,000 paid only once per beneficiary is available for those who will suffer permanent disability or death due to COVID-19 vaccines.
The package covers claims from March 3, 2021 until March 2, 2026, until the completion of the COVID-19 vaccination program, whichever comes earlier.
Beneficiaries of the package must have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. The causality assessment must show the adverse reaction was vaccine- or vaccine defect-related.
The government is targeting to administer 8 to 10 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines in July, vaccine czar Sec. Carlito Galvez Jr. said.
Galvez, the chief implementer of the National Task Force Against COVID-19, said the government will try to double its utilization rate to at least 2 million doses every week beginning next month.
Japan is donating one million AstraZeneca vaccines that are expected to arrive next month as well, Japanese Ambassador to Manila Koshikawa Kazuhiko said.
“One step closer to the Philippines’ goal of herd immunity? Count us in! One million doses of AstraZeneca vaccines from Japan are expected to arrive in Manila tentatively on July 8,” Kazuhiko posted on his Twitter account.
“We are working double time so this donation reaches Philippine shores without delay,” he added.
Meanwhile, the Department of Health said it is waiting for Sinovac to submit a certificate of analysis (COA) for its latest shipment of COVID-19 vaccines that arrived Monday before these can be used in Taguig City and other areas.
“We need to wait for the COA before the vaccines are administered,” Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said.
The local government of Taguig earlier announced it would temporarily suspend the use of Sinovac shots pending the DOH’s approval of the doses currently stored in the city’s cold chain facility.
For his part, Food and Drug Administration (FDA) chief Eric Domingo said Sinovac jabs have prevented COVID-19 hospitalization and deaths in the country amid reports that health workers in Indonesia who got the vaccine still tested positive, with dozens hospitalized.
“Even if we get vaccinated there is still no 100 percent protection,” he said.
“But 14 days after the second dose, even if the person gets COVID, only mild cases are recorded – no hospitalization, no deaths,” Domingo added.