You''ve heard of car insurance and life insurance, but what about vaccine insurance? The government has approved a new insurance product for people planning to get vaccinated for COVID-19. Premiums start at NT$226 a year, and you can get up to NT$3,000 a day if you''re hospitalized for an adverse reaction.
Vaccination rates still haven’t picked up, even with four priority groups eligible. Officials said Wednesday that 10,000 doses would be offered to non-priority groups at their own expense. In response, the Insurance Bureau has authorized the sale of vaccine insurance, a first-of-its-kind product in Taiwan.
Liu Feng-ho
Insurance specialist
When SARS broke out back in the day, vaccine insurance did not appear on the market. Why is it appearing now? It might be due to the global nature of COVID. If you experience an adverse reaction after vaccination, you may need to be hospitalized. You need to be hospitalized to be eligible for a payout. Insurers are likely to treat claims with leniency.
Two companies, Fubon Insurance and Chubb Life Taiwan, are offering policies. Fubon’s plan is open to those 3 to 70 years old. If you suffer an adverse reaction and require hospitalization, you’ll get NT$5,000. If you’re in the hospital for at least five consecutive days, there’s another payout of NT$30,000. As for Chubb, it offers up to NT$3,000 a day for up to 14 days. However, it only covers reactions after a COVID vaccine, whereas Fubon covers reactions from all vaccines. Both policies cost less than NT$300 for one year of coverage. Insurance workers think they’ll sell well.
Liu Feng-ho
Insurance specialist
Especially among white-collar workers. If they have to be hospitalized due to the vaccine, they’ll get a payout of NT$3,000 a day for up to 14 days. From the view of an ordinary white-collar worker, this policy is like Mother Teresa.
Huang Li-min
NTU Children''s Hospital director
The part that people know less about, and the part they’re more concerned about, is the more unusual reactions caused by the immune system…the side effects that are more difficult to predict. With the AstraZeneca vaccine, there’s the question of blood clots. It is currently unknown who is at higher risk. So if people want to take out vaccine insurance, of course that’s fine. It’s just a form of commercial activity.
Earlier in the days of the pandemic, quarantine insurance had taken Taiwan by storm. With self-paid vaccines to debut, insurance firms are keeping a step ahead, with a policy that could encourage more people to get vaccinated.