Indemnification law passes final reading in Senate

The Senate passed the final reading of the vaccination program bill, which included the creation of a “trust fund” to compensate for those injured in the COVID-19 vaccine.

Under the law, the government will cover the cost of a vaccine against COVID-19 which will experience severe side effects.

ADVERTISEMENT

These include death, permanent disability, and even hospitalization costs.

The COVID-19 national vaccine indemnity fund will be administered by PhilHealth.

P500 million will come from the contingent fund of the national budget and it will be added to PhilHealth’s current fund.

ADVERTISEMENT

PhilHealth, in consultation with the National Task Force against COVID-19, the Department of Health, the Department of Budget and Management, and the Department of Finance, will issue guidelines for the planning, use, and monitoring of funds, including determining adequacy.

Immune from the case is any public official, employee, contractor, manufacturer, volunteer, and representative of the private sector who is authorized to vaccinate in case of claims after vaccination unless there is negligence.

The bill also includes empowering local governments and the private sector to buy vaccines, with the help of the DOH and National Task Force against COVID-19.

ADVERTISEMENT

Also read: Senate to review removal of load, data expiration

Indemnification law passes final reading in Senate

The Senate will send a copy of their proposal to the House for analysis.

According to WHO Country Representative Dr. Rabindra Abeyasinghe, the Philippine agreements with the COVAX Facility were completed on time.

The delay is between the government and the manufacturer.

“There have been some delays in finalizing the commitments between Pfizer-BioNTech and the Philippine government. I’ve seen some communication last night which indicates that measures are being taken to address those issues,” said Abeyasinghe.

“We believe that limited Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines will be shipped as early as possible once the exchange of letters is completed and requirements met by the Philippine government,” he added.

According to Abeyasinghe, all countries are required to have an indemnification clause with the manufacturer because the vaccines to be distributed are still under the WHO emergency use listing.

Also read: Lacson: Malacañang should not interfere with functions of Senate or Congress