Senators file bills seeking establishment of vaccine indemnity fund

At least two bills seeking to establish an indemnity fund for vaccine-related injuries in the country have been filed in the Senate ahead of the COVID-19 vaccine rollout.

Senate Bill Nos. 2015 and 2022, authored respectively by Senators Nancy Binay and Bong Revilla Jr., both propose that the indemnity fund be subsidized by pharmaceutical companies that supply the government with vaccines for public immunization programs.

The vaccine makers shall reserve 1% of the contract price for the fund which shall be deposited with the national treasury. It shall specifically be earmarked to compensate those who sustain "vaccine-related adverse events."

The two bills likewise propose to create the Vaccines Compensation Board, which would manage the indemnification fund. It shall be headed by the Justice Secretary as chairperson and the Health Secretary as vice chairperson.

The costs for the initial implementation of the proposed law shall be charged to the budget of the Department of Health, and thereafter be taken from the indemnification fund to be subsidized by pharmaceutical companies.

In case the indemnification fund is deemed insufficient, the DOH shall provide subsidies through a supplemental budget, according to the bills.

These proposed measures were crafted with the imminent rollout of COVID-19 vaccines at the backdrop.

The Philippine government targets to immunize 50 million to 70 million individuals from the novel coronavirus within the year, and around 50,000 are expected to be inoculated next month. — BM, GMA News