No Insurance Against Covid-19 Vaccination Side-Effects, Says Govt; Taking Vaccine Is Voluntary

Sounds unpleasant but true that there is no provision of insurance for recipients of coronavirus vaccine against any kind of side effects or medical complications that may arise due to inoculation, confirmed by Ashwini Choubey, the minister of health in Rajya Sabha on Tuesday.

COVID-19 Vaccination Is Entirely Voluntary For The Beneficiary

So far, nationwide COVID-19 vaccine drive started on 16 January for healthcare and essential workers.

Prior to this, India has granted emergency use authorization to two COVID-19 vaccines.

Currently, the Pune-based Serum Institute of India’s Covishield and Hyderabad-based Bharat Biotech International Ltd’s Covaxin which are being used in the government’s vaccination drive.

While answering to a question on whether those administered with the COVID-19 vaccines are insured against any kind of side effects or medical complications that may arise due to inoculation, Ashwini Choubey said, “The COVID-19 vaccination is entirely voluntary for the beneficiary.”

AEFI Management Centre And Monitoring

“Measures have been put in place like availability of anaphylaxis kits at each vaccination site, immediate referral to AEFI management centre and observation of vaccine recipients for 30 minutes at session site for any adverse events so as to ensure timely corrective measure,” said Choubey, in a written reply to Rajya Sabha.

Further he added, “Also the AEFI management of such cases are provided free of cost treatment in Public Health Facilities,” he said.

AEFI Surveillance System

While talking about the Adverse Effects following Immunisation (AEFI) arising from the use of Covaxin and Covishield, Choubey said, “Till 4 February, a total of 81 Adverse Event Following Immunisation (AEFIs) i.e. 0.096% AEFIs cases have been reported out of total beneficiaries vaccinated with Covaxin vaccine”.

A total of 8,402 AEFIs, i.e. 0.192% AEFI cases have been reported For Covishield vaccine, out of total beneficiaries vaccinated, Choubey said.

According to him, mostly these are minor AEFIs such as anxiety, vertigo, giddiness, dizziness, fever, pain, rashes, and headache which are self-limiting and all people have recovered.

He further mentioned that Adverse Event Following Immunization (AEFI) of COVID-19 vaccines are monitored through a well-structured and robust AEFI surveillance system. 

Currently, the COVID-19 vaccination of healthcare workers and frontline workers is ongoing on.

Moreover, the vaccination coverage along with AEFIs are being monitored regularly at block, district, state and national level.

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