The National Health Security Office (NHSO) announced that people experiencing side effects from Covid-19 vaccines would no longer receive government compensation unless they have a gold card.
On Monday, Assistant Secretary-General Atthaporn Limpanyalert said the NHSO board had decided to revise the compensation criteria for Covid-19 treatment on July 4 after the country’s health situation improved and the disease began to be considered endemic.
Under the new criteria, compensation for the side effects of Covid-19 vaccines would no longer be paid to all schemes but only to the universal healthcare scheme members holding the gold card.
Now, the compensation money will be drawn from the national health security funds instead of from the emergency loan decree budget, Mr. Atthaporn said.
“As for people who received Covid-19 vaccines from July 4 and developed allergies or side effects, the NHSO will look after those who are gold-card holders,” he added.
The deputy general secretary explained that those members of other schemes can apply for compensation in the “schemes they are entitled to claim from.”
Mr. Atthaporn added that the NHSO decided to revise the criteria per the government’s policy to downgrade the pandemic to endemic status.
NHSO figures showed that 21,139 people in total had made compensation claims in various health schemes nationwide as of Friday.
The group included 12,065 gold card subscribers, 4,691 members of the Social Security Fund, and around 3,910 civil servants. Only 17,559 of the total have met the compensation criteria, Mr. Atthaporn stated.
Since the compensation policy was implemented, the NHSO has paid more than 2 billion baht to the relatives of 4,441 people who have died or are disabled.
Moreover, 505 patients who have lost their organs and 11,331 who have been injured by Covid-19 vaccines have received compensation.
In a related development, the Public Health Ministry reported that Thailand had logged 15 more Covid-19 fatalities and 698 new patients admitted to hospitals on Monday.
Of those patients in hospitals, 678 were severely injured with lung inflammation, and 344 were dependent on ventilators.
