WHO scheme may compensate people in poor countries against COVID vaccine side-effects

A vaccine scheme co-led by the World Health Organization is setting up a compensation fund for people in poor nations who might suffer any side-effects from COVID-19 vaccines, aiming to allay fears that could hamper a global rollout of shots.

The scheme is being set up by the promoters of the COVAX vaccine facility, which is co-led by the WHO and GAVI, a vaccine alliance, a COVAX document published on Thursday said. The scheme could foot the bill for 92 low-income countries, meaning their governments would temporarily not be liable for claims from patients should anything go unexpectedly wrong.

However, dozens of middle-income countries, such as South Africa, Lebanon, Gabon, Iran and most Latin American states, would not be offered this protection.