Mr Pritam Singh (Aljunied): Sir, this cut is about the Vaccine Injury, Financial Assistance Programme for COVID-19, or VIFAP. MOH has released information that as of 31 December 2022, 413 applications have received payments under VIFAP with nearly $1.9 million having been paid out.
May I ask the Minister how many applications were made in total, up to 31 December 2022, so that we can know how many applications have been turned down? Could the Minister also let us know the reasons for turning down those applications?
It would be reasonable to conclude that unsuccessful applications were turned down because the injuries were determined not to have been caused by the vaccines.
However, can we go beyond that? Considering that there has only been such a short time to understand the side effects of vaccines, I would like to ask the Minister a few questions. For those applicants who were turned down, how many of them claimed that they were unable to perform the activities of daily living? What threshold does MOH use to decide that a person is eligible for a payout? Must the vaccine be proven to have caused the effects suffered before payouts are made or are payouts made if it cannot be proven that the effects were due to some other cause? Or are there some other tests or thresholds being used? When more information becomes available over the years, can the unsuccessful applications be reconsidered?
Ministry of Health
3 March 2023
https://sprs.parl.gov.sg/search/#/sprs3topic?reportid=budget-2091
Office of the Leader of the Opposition 