On Tuesday, 3 May, Latvia’s government officially approved the procedure for compensation of damages caused by side-effects from Covid-19 vaccines.
The Ministry of Health explains that serious health problems are defined with permanent health problems resulting in permanent limitation or loss of self-care, functioning, capacity for work and quality of life, or death, and are directly related to side-effects caused by Covid-19 vaccines.
Moderate health problems include long-term medical conditions that are directly related side-effects from Covid-19 vaccines, partially limiting self-care, functioning, performance and quality of life.
There are five Covid-19 vaccines available in Latvia – Comirnaty, Spikevax, Nuvaxovid, Vaxzevria, and Janssen. In December 2020 the first people in Latvia to be vaccinated for Covid-19 were staff of the country’s biggest hospitals. Mass vaccination of Latvian residents commenced at the end of March 2021.
Covid-19 vaccination in Latvia has basically stopped since March 2022. For example, less than 2 000 people were vaccinated in the country last week. The peak of vaccination in Latvia was reached at the end of May 2021, when up to 117 000 people were vaccinated within a single week. The next breakthrough was in the middle of October 2021, after vaccination was declared mandatory in multiple sectors.
So far 1.057 million people or about 56.2% of the country’s population have received at least one jab of Covid-19 vaccine. 1.017 million of them have received two jabs and 287 000 have received a jab with Janssen vaccine, which requires only one dose.
27.8% of the population or roughly 524 000 people in Latvia have received booster shots.
The right to make decisions regarding compensation for health problems caused by side-effects from Covid-19 vaccines is planned to be delegated to the State Agency of Medicines (ZVA), where residents will need to send requests for compensation. In accordance with the Law on the Management of the Spread of COVID-19 Infection, residents will have the right to submit a request within two years of uncovering health problems and no later than three years after vaccination.
Read also: Latvia to lift covid certificate requirement for teachers this year
Residents who received Covid-19 vaccine jabs in Latvia using a vaccine registered with the European Medicines Agency and as long health problems are directly linked to side-effects of the vaccine listed in the vaccine instruction handbook and if those problems remain for at least 26 weeks.
To submit a compensation request, residents will need to fill in a form and provide a conclusion from a healthcare specialist on the possible link between health problems and side-effects from the vaccine, as well as other related medical documents proving the condition is real.
In the event of the patient’s death, the compensation request will be allowed to be submitted by the patient’s inheritor, as long as they provide a valid death certificate or forensic expert’s report.
At the same time, amendments do not provide for the compensation of damages to health after receiving a jab if the damage to health is not directly linked to side-effects from the vaccine.
The Ministry of Health explains that the assessment of the causal relationship between the radiolabelled vaccine and the vaccine-associated side-effects does not in itself lead to legal consequences, similarly to tests of medicines or medical equipment. The assessment, if provided, will be used by a special ZVA group and experts from other healthcare institutions to determine if side-effects were the factor that caused health problems. This means the agency’s assessment regarding assessment of the likelihood of a causal relationship between the reported adverse reaction will be considered a professional opinion of an independent research institution.
It is planned the maximum compensation amount for health problems caused by Covid-19 vaccines will be set at EUR 142 290.