Vaccine indemnity scheme, at last

Details have finally arrived, and GPs have been assured the scheme will apply retrospectively.

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The federal government has finalised its long-awaited no-fault indemnity scheme for covid vaccination, which will apply retrospectively to the entire rollout.

Health Minister Greg Hunt this morning [Saturday] announced details of the scheme, which will provide fast compensation to patients with a serious adverse event and protect GPs and other vaccinators from legal action.

Anyone who suffers injury and loss of income will be able to register interest in making a claim on the Department of Health’s website.

On Thursday at the weekly DoH update, Professor Michael Kidd asked Dr Lucas de Toca, the covid-19 Primary Care Response First Assistant Secretary, when GPs would be advised of the details of the scheme – and in an unusual expression of impatience, added the comment: “If Lucas says it’s coming soon, I think I’ll scream.”

Dr de Toca was apologetic at how long the government had taken to make the promise concrete, and reassured the audience that the scheme would be retrospective.

“I’m sorry,” he said. “I hear your frustration and probably rage. But we need to make sure that we get it right … The government has committed to this indemnity scheme, to be operational … and to be applied retrospectively from the beginning of the vaccination program, so you can be assured that it will be there, and it will apply from the beginning, not just from the time that it comes into fruition.

“And I am really sorry to have made you scream.”

Today RACGP president Dr Karen Price welcomed the announcement and said the college had been working with the federal government on its development.

“It’s really important that people receiving vaccines, as well as those administering them, including general practices, have a safety net of protection, even though we know adverse side effects are very rare.

“This scheme does just that. It is primarily to save patients having to go through complicated legal processes to seek compensation in the event of very rare side effects … It also provides peace of mind and protection for GPs working hard on the frontline of the vaccine rollout.”

The DoH says the scheme “will cover the costs of injuries above $5,000 due to administration of a TGA approved covid-19 vaccine or due to an adverse event that is considered to be caused by a covid-19 vaccination.

“The recognised side effects to the covid-19 vaccines are included in the approved Product Information and include thrombosis with thrombocytopenia syndrome (TTS) associated with the AstraZeneca vaccine and myocarditis and pericarditis associated with the Pfizer vaccine.

“For claims between $5,000 and $20,000, claimants need to have been hospitalised for at least one night, will need to nominate they are seeking less than $20,000 and provide applicable evidence of:

• the nature of the injury and medical documentation of its likely relationship to a COVID-19 vaccination
• hospitalisation, due to a vaccine-related injury
• medical costs
• lost wages

“The evidence requirements for claims greater than $20,000 and including death, are still being developed and will be advised as part of additional information on the Scheme in the future. Claims relating to a death will not require evidence of hospitalisation.”