Duque urges swift passage of vaccine indemnification fund bill

MANILA – Health Secretary Francisco Duque III on Friday urged for the swift creation of an indemnification fund law that seeks to compensate individuals who would suffer adverse effects from the coronavirus disease 2019 vaccines.

“Mayroon po tayong binubuo at sana po maisabatas ‘yong indemnification fund law. Ito pong batas na ito hangad nito ay mabigyan ng ayuda o compensation kung sino man ‘yong magkakaroon ng adverse reaction bunsod ng bakuna,” he said during the team visit of Coordinated Operations to Defeat Epidemic (CODE) in Mandaluyong City.

Duque said since these vaccines against a novel disease are relatively new, the government must be equally prepared for any possibility of severe effects it would bring.

“Harinawa hindi mangyari pero tama kayo na sa atin pong pagpla-plano, dapat handa tayong tugunan ang mga posibilidad na ganito (Of course, we’re hoping none of this would occur but we must be ready to respond for such possibilities),” he said.

Asked if there would be funds allocated for fatalities caused by a vaccine shot, Duque said this may also be raised with President Rodrigo Duterte.

“‘Yong actual direct compensation hindi ko alam kung puwedeng isama rito kasi sa ngayon, kung ang tanong ay may pumanaw baka puwede naming ipakiusap sa Pangulong (Rodrigo) Duterte kasi sa kasalukuyan pag namatayan may binibigyan ng PHP1 million assistance sa family so baka puwedeng i-extend sa ganito (On the actual direct compensation, I’m not certain if this could be applied on cases of death caused by the vaccine, but we can appeal to the President because we already have a PHP1 million cash aid to the kin of Covid-19 casualties),” he explained.

“Sana walang mangyari na ganito pero dahil nga bago hindi pa rin natin masiguro hindi pa rin tayo pwedeng magsalita ng tapos patungkol dito (We’re hoping nothing like this would happen but since this is still new we cannot be absolute about everything),” he added.

On Wednesday, the city government of Marikina announced that it has set aside a local indemnification fund to assist residents who would suffer from severe injuries or any adverse effect of Covid-19 vaccines.

Marikina City Marcelino Teodoro said they are also putting up a post-care monitoring system to observe individuals who would be inoculated with the vaccines.