The National Health Security Office (NHSO) intends to offer more compensation for students who suffer adverse effects from Covid-19 vaccination shots.
Under the government's no-fault compensation programme for vaccine recipients, students who get Pfizer jabs under the state-led vaccination drive for young people will receive financial assistance if they suffer any serious side effects, Jadej Thammatcharee, secretary-general of the NHSO, said on Wednesday.
Preliminary assistance will be paid under the compensation programme for vaccine recipients who suffer several allergic reactions after a Covid-19 jab, said Dr Jadej.
A request for compensation can be submitted to the NHSO, the hospital where the vaccine was given, provincial health offices or NHSO branch offices within two years, he said.
"If the request is rejected by the NHSO's area committee which inspects compensation requests, an appeal can be lodged directly with the NHSO secretary-general," he added.
The compensation is normally approved for damage categorised in three groups according to the severity of allergic reaction experienced, he noted.
At most 100,000 baht will be paid to a person suffering an illness that requires long-term treatment, while one suffering a minor disability will receive at most 240,000 baht in compensation.
"In case of death or a permanent major disability the maximum compensation will be 400,000 baht," Dr Jadej said.
A team of medical experts led by the Heart Association of Thailand, meanwhile, has released guidelines for the diagnosis and management of myocarditis and pericarditis after a Covid-19 mRNA vaccination.
Myocarditis is an inflammation of the heart muscle (myocardium) while pericarditis is inflammation of the pericardium, a sac-like structure with two thin layers of tissue that surround the heart to hold it in place and help it work.
Key symptoms of both include chest pain, rapid or irregular heartbeats, or shortness of breath and unconsciousness, which on average occur within a week after vaccination.
A set of guidelines aims to assist healthcare providers responsible for administering the vaccines to young people across the country.
