Vaccinated Latvians who experience moderately severe Covid-19 complications may be eligible for compensation

On Friday, 29 October, Saeima’s Defence, Internal Affairs and Corruption Prevention Committee conceptually passed the proposal to pay compensation to residents vaccinated for Covid-19 who experience moderately severe complications after receiving vaccine injection.
Until now deputies were in favour of paying compensation only for severe complications – if health problems become permanent.
On 29 October parliamentarians conceptually agreed that the law should include a compensation mechanism for patients whose post-vaccination health complications are temporary.
This approach was previously proposed by opposition deputy Jūlija Stepaņenko. The head of the committee Juris Rancāns agreed.
He believes it would be fair to provide this compensation and at the very least help residents cover the costs of treatment of health problems that appeared as a result of vaccination.
Ombudsman Juris Jansons agreed as well, adding that there should be a compensation mechanism in place. Initially he said that if it is about severe health problems, there should be a compensation, whereas when it comes to moderately severe cases – there is room for discussions.
Rancāns said even if moderately severe health problems appear in one in a million, the state should still help residents cover hospital treatment costs. According to him, it would be unfair if the state makes vaccination compulsory but does not assist residents if said vaccination causes health problems. At the same time, he added that residents would not be eligible for compensation in the event of swelling or high body temperature.
The ombudsman stressed that if health complications appear and cause additional medical expenses or the need for medical treatment after rehabilitation, the state should take on the risk.
«If the state makes vaccination compulsory, there have to be compensation mechanisms so that people do not experience additional discomfort,» says Jansons.
The chairman of the committee decided to compose a proposal from the committee and include compensation option for moderately severe side-effects from Covid-19 vaccination.
At the same time, opposition deputy Ivars Zariņš proposed making it so that residents become eligible for any health problems that appear as a result of vaccination. Members of the committee disagreed however.