Chubb, Marsh to drive vaccine comp programme for low income countries

Chubb and Marsh are collaborating with the World Health Organization (WHO) and Gavi the Vaccine Alliance to provide insurance coverage for people in 92 lower-income countries via the COVAX No-fault Compensation Program (CNFCP).

CNFCP promises to offer compensation to the world’s poorest people who suffer complications after having a vaccine. It aims to deliver a fast, fair and transparent process to deliver compensation for rare but serious adverse events associated with vaccines distributed through COVAX up to June 30, 2022.

Chubb and Marsh will provide up to $150 million in insurance coverage for CNFCP to cover compensation payments to eligible individuals in the 92 lower-income countries and economies, known as the Gavi COVAX Advance Market Commitment (AMC) eligible economies.

Marsh led the global placement of the bespoke solution, while Chubb is the lead insurer, supported by ten more insurers located in Bermuda, the US, the UK, Germany, Ireland and Switzerland. ESIS, a Chubb company, administers the programme.

CNFCP, which is believed to be the first and only vaccine injury compensation mechanism operating on an international scale, was convened by Gavi, the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) and WHO, working in partnership with UNICEF.

The delivery of COVID-19 vaccines during 2021 will be the fastest and largest global deployment of novel vaccines in history. The COVAX Facility, the global procurement mechanism of COVAX, aims by the end of 2021 to deliver up to 2 billion doses of safe, effective and quality-assured vaccines to all participating countries, including up to 1.7 billion doses to the 92 AMC-eligible countries and economies, at the same time as wealthier nations.

Evan Greenberg, chairman and chief executive officer (CEO) of Chubb, said: “The magnitude of the COVID-19 pandemic demands that everyone – from governments and public health authorities to the private sector – bring their skills, capabilities and resources to do their part to end this crisis.”

John Doyle, president and CEO of Marsh, said: “The delivery of COVAX distributed vaccines will now enable some of the most vulnerable societies to rebuild and recover more quickly. By working together, the public sector and insurance industry have the ability to develop solutions that can accelerate economic recovery from COVID-19.”

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO director-general, said: “The unprecedented nature of the COVID-19 pandemic has been matched by the largest ever rollout of new vaccines under the ACT-Accelerator and its vaccines pillar, COVAX.”

Seth Berkley, CEO of Gavi, described CNFCP as “a robust, transparent and an independent mechanism that is going to be a key benefit for individuals being vaccinated and lower-income governments procuring vaccines through the Gavi COVAX AMC.”

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