The impact of COVID-19 vaccines on your clients’ long-term insurance

One of the primary objectives of scientists around the world over the past year has been the development of a vaccine for the COVID-19 virus. This has resulted in the development of several vaccines that appear to be effective against the virus. In fact, according to Dr Reinhardt Erasmus, Medical Officer at Momentum, “Several vaccines had become available at the end of 2020 with more than 40 candidate vaccines already being tested in human trials, and over 150 of these vaccines in preclinical trials.”

The overall purpose of vaccines

Vaccination is the best way to save millions of lives and end a pandemic’s devastation. Dr Erasmus confirms the effectiveness of vaccines by stating, “Vaccines are estimated to save more than five lives every minute. They protect communities against preventable diseases, which directly impacts social and economical welfare across the globe.” Over a number of decades, there have been countless examples of the positive impact of vaccines. The most noteworthy of these is smallpox, which was eradicated, and polio, which is on the verge of being defeated.

According to The World Health Organisation (WHO), 86% of the world’s children currently receive essential, lifesaving vaccines, which is a dramatic increase from an estimated 20% in 1980. This protects them and their communities against a range of infectious diseases, but this level of protection can only be achieved through a strong global effort to increase access to vaccinations and the affordability thereof.

COVID-19 vaccines in a nutshell

“Without getting too technical, COVID-19 vaccines aim to ‘train’ the recipient’s immune system to fight off the infection when the virus is encountered,” Dr Erasmus comments. He adds, “Vaccines achieve this in multiple different ways, depending on the mechanism used. It should be noted that even though vaccines for COVID-19 have been developed at an unprecedented speed, safety criteria had to be stringently followed in pre-clinical and clinical developmental stages.”

“We are not going to ask clients to specifically disclose if they have been vaccinated”

The COVID-19 virus is a serious disease that has infected more than 78 million people across the globe in only 10 months, and killed 1.7 million of those infected. This raises a serious concern of this virus having the potential to overwhelm health systems worldwide, leading to deaths for people with other ailments that would otherwise have been treated. Although behavioural measures such as mask-wearing, physical distancing and isolating while symptomatic did contribute a great deal towards slowing the spread of the virus, vaccines offer a better and more effective path to eliminate the COVID-19 virus.

Hesitancy and typical misconceptions about COVID-19 vaccines

Dr Tedros A Ghebreyesus, DirectorGeneral of the WHO, highlights the fact that many people are sceptical about receiving the COVID-19 vaccines, and addresses the number of misconceptions that exist about these vaccines, “We’re not just fighting an epidemic; we’re fighting an infodemic. Fake news spreads faster and more easily than this virus and is just as dangerous.”

Dr Erasmus further clarifies, “The uncertainty that arises during a disease outbreak can create vulnerability for the spread of false information. Disinformation is created to monetise, polarise and politicise. These three motivators are generally behind false statements and should be recognised. People should not be afraid to speak to their medical practitioners about their concerns. Many myths about efficacy and safety are one conversation away from being discredited. There is no such thing as a trivial question.”

The likelihood of complications or side-effects from COVID-19 vaccines

“It is unrealistic to expect any medical treatment to be 100% free from sideeffects,” according to Dr Erasmus. He adds, “Pain at the injection site, fever, fatigue, and headaches are some of the common side-effects associated with most vaccines. Even though these can be discomforting, they are usually transient in nature and do not last more than a few days. Serious sideeffects, such as anaphylaxis, which is a life-threatening allergic reaction, are extremely rare.”

In line with a client-centric approach, it is very important to inform clients about the possible impact of COVID-19 vaccines on their insurance. Janet Brodie, Chief Underwriting Officer at Momentum, states, “In the unlikely event that a claim is submitted where the COVID-19 vaccine is mentioned as a possible cause for the claim, we will continue to assess the claim according to our standard definitions and criteria – even in the unlikely case of clients having severe side-effects from the vaccine.”

She continues, “Our claim definitions do not specifically exclude events that are accelerated or brought about by the vaccination, and we will assess claims according to the specific benefits the clients have. For example, we will still look at the listed claim events linked to critical illness benefits. When the vaccine is received, the immune system is stimulated to provide protection. If, in the very unlikely and severe event of someone passing away following a vaccination, the claim will not be repudiated.”

Brodie adds, “With regard to proof of vaccination, even though Momentum supports the official scientific view of the protective power of vaccines, we do not require clients to be vaccinated and therefore would not require explicit proof of them being vaccinated.”

A futuristic outlook

Going forward, one cannot help but wonder how similar scenarios will affect underwriting practices. Brodie answers this by saying, “This is obviously something we are continuously monitoring but we do not believe the vaccination will change our current underwriting practices. We are not going to ask clients to specifically disclose if they have been vaccinated. We will, however, expect them to complete our application form accurately and comprehensively, which will include disclosure of any special investigations, as well as other symptoms they may have experienced in the case of side-effects.”

Brodie also provides an opinion regarding the way that future product design might be shaped by the COVID-19 virus. “During the product design process, we will typically stick to elements for which we have enough evidence from data. It is unlikely that COVID-19 vaccinations will lead to different product designs until such time that there is more data available about the long-term effects. A more pressing question is to establish if the COVID-19 virus will become an annual occurrence, such as flu, or remain prevalent as a new disease on a more permanent basis.”

Momentum is part of Momentum Metropolitan Life Limited, an authorised financial services and registered credit provider. Reg. No. 1904/002186/06.

Dr. Reinhardt Erasmus, Medical Officer, Momentum

Janet Brodie, Chief Underwriting Officer, Momentum