Anti-vaxxers may lose travel insurance
Anti-vaxxers may risk invalidating their travel insurance if they are medically able but decline to have the coronavirus vaccine, an insurance expert told City A.M
Medical underwriting specialist and travel insurance expert Tricia Tietema told London-based newspaper City A.M she would expect that those who are medically able to have the Covid-19 vaccine but choose not to have it, could breach the terms and conditions of their insurance policy.
“It is the case that most of the larger insurers would already have declined claims for tropical diseases such as malaria or yellow fever if the traveller has not taken advantage of the vaccines available – and this exclusion can be found in policy wordings,” said Tietema. “However, we would be aware that exceptions have to be made for those who cannot have these, so infants, pregnant people and some who are immunocompromised cannot have the live vaccine, for example.”
Pfizer and Moderna announce vaccines
US pharmaceutical company Pfizer has announced that its experimental Covid-19 vaccine proved 95 per cent effective in phase three clinical trials. The UK Government has already ordered 40 million doses of the vaccine. And recently, the UK also secured five million doses of Moderna’s coronavirus vaccine, which has also proved 95-per-cent effective in late-stage clinical trials. So far, the UK has secured 355 million doses of potential vaccines produced by seven different companies.
“Looking longer term to when more Covid-19 vaccines emerge, then I would expect anyone medically able to have it but who neglected to do so might well breach the terms and conditions of their [travel insurance] policy,” Tietema said. “Insurers cannot dictate to individuals where they travel, they can only make plain which risks are insured and leave them to make informed decisions.”