Singapore – Those who suffer from serious side effects after receiving their Covid-19 vaccine can apply for financial assistance from Wednesday (Mar 17) under the Vaccine Injury Financial Assistance Programme for Covid-19 vaccination (VIFAP).
According to the Ministry of Health (MOH), a serious side effect is potentially life-threatening or fatal and requires in-patient hospitalisation or causes persistent incapacity or disability.
Those who require in-patient hospitalisation and medical intervention will be eligible for a one-time payout of S$2,000, MOH announced on Tuesday (Mar 16).
This is in addition to the two other tiers of assistance previously announced, namely:
A one-time payout of S$10,000 for individuals who require admission to High Dependency or Intensive Care units
A one-time payout of S$225,000 for individuals who die or suffer permanent severe disability as a result of Covid-19 vaccination.
MOH said:
“The inclusion of the $2,000 pay-out, in addition to the other two tiers which were earlier announced, is meant to strengthen support provided to individuals who suffer from serious side effects due to Covid-19 vaccination. The VIFAP is not meant to reimburse medical costs. It provides an additional layer of financial support, on top of the existing government healthcare financing schemes for medical costs incurred, which include government subsidies, MediShield Life, MediSave and MediFund.”
MOH added:
“VIFAP will provide financial assistance to Singapore citizens, permanent esidents and Long-Term Pass holders vaccinated under the national vaccination programme, in the rare event that a person suffers from serious side effects that are assessed to be related to their Covid-19 vaccination. This is to give greater peace of mind for those deciding on taking up the vaccination.”
More details can be found here./TISG
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