Russia Covid Vaccine NFCS

Introduction

The Russian Federation had an existing no-fault compensation scheme for vaccines created in 1998 on the basis of the Federal Act ‘On the Immunoprophylaxis of Infectious Disease’ (Federal Law No. 157-FZ of September 17, 1998), Chapter V ‘Social Support of Citizens in the Event of Post-vaccination Complications’. The NFCS is further regulated by the Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation ‘On the Procedure for Paying State Lump-Sum Benefits and Monthly Monetary Compensation to Citizens When They Have Post-Vaccination Complication’ of 27 December 2000, No. 1013 (Government of the Russian Federation Decree No. 1013 of 27.12.2000).

The NFCS seems to have started covering COVID-19 vaccinations since the inclusion of COVID-19 vaccines in the National Calendar of Preventive Vaccinations for Epidemic Indications in December 2020.

The scheme is administered by the Social Security Authorities of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation (органами социальной защиты населения), which are public bodies – see Decree No. 1013 of 27.12.2000, 5.

The funding for the scheme comes from the Federal government (Federal Law No. 157-FZ of September 17, 1998, Article 18 and Decree No. 1013 of 27.12.2000, 5).

Vaccines Covered

This NFCS covers nationally approved vaccines for a pre-specified list of diseases. The diseases covered are those included in the National Calendar of Preventive Vaccinations and the Calendar of Preventive Vaccinations for Epidemic Indications.

COVID-19 vaccination has been added to the Calendar of Preventive Vaccinations for Epidemic Indications by Order of the Ministry of Health entering into force on 27 December 2020 (see here).

It is not explicitly stated whether this scheme includes vaccines approved for emergency use, but as COVID-19 vaccines in the Russian Federation were introduced under conditional approval it appears that both vaccines approved for emergency use and standard approvals can be covered by this NFCS.

Injuries Covered

The kinds of injuries covered by the NFCS are not specified in the statute or government decree, however the statute provides that a list of post-vaccination complications that give citizens the right to receive state lump-sum benefits is approved by the Government of the Russian Federation on the proposal of the federal executive body in the field of healthcare (Federal Law No. 157-FZ of September 17, 1998, Article 19). According to the CMS Guide on vaccine compensation regimes ‘Russian legislation provides a list of instances when a person is eligible for social compensation due to post-vaccine complications (e.g. anaphylactic accident, serious generalised allergic reactions or encephalitis)’ (see Tyupa and Shadrin 2021).

This NFCS also appears to cover temporary injuries (see Federal Law No. 157-FZ of September 17, 1998, Article 21).

Charges for making a claim

It is not known whether there are any charges for making a claim under this scheme.

Claimants

Under this scheme the following categories of individuals are permitted to make a claim:

Vaccinated people who have been injured by a covered vaccine;
Family members of people who have died following a covered vaccine injury.

The specific family members entitled to receive the a NFCS allowance is determined in accordance with Article 10 of the Federal Law ‘On Insurance Pensions’. See Decree No. 1013 of 27.12.2000, 2.

It is not known whether under this scheme the claimant is allowed to nominate a legal representative to make their claim. However, in case the person injured by a covered vaccine is a minor, the law provides that parents or other legal representative of the minor have the right to receive temporary disability benefits for the entire period of the minor's illness associated with a post-vaccination complication (see Federal Law No. 157-FZ of September 17, 1998, Article 21).

Losses covered

This scheme pays the following:

Live vaccine recipient	Dependants of vaccine recipient	Surviving family members of a deceased vaccine recipient
Compensation payments are for general categories and are not broken down into economic and non-economic losses.	No Compensation is specifically provided for dependants of vaccine recipients.	Compensation payments are for general categories and are not broken down into economic and non-economic losses.

Payments consist of a mixture of periodic payments and a lump sum payment.

Compensation under this scheme can be a fixed sum indicated in the statute (in cases of eligible post-vaccination complications, death or permanent disability) or individualised (in cases of temporary disability):

In the event of an eligible post-vaccination complication, a citizen has the right to receive a state lump-sum allowance in the amount of 10,000 rubles - Federal Law No. 157-FZ of September 17, 1998, Article 19(1).
In the event of the death of a citizen as a result of a post-vaccination complication, members of his family have the right to receive a state lump-sum allowance in the amount of 30,000 rubles - Federal Law No. 157-FZ of September 17, 1998, Article 19(2).
A citizen recognized as disabled due to a post-vaccination complication has the right to receive a monthly monetary compensation in the amount of 1,000 rubles - Federal Law No. 157-FZ of September 17, 1998, Article 20.
A citizen whose temporary disability is associated with a post-vaccination complication is entitled to receive temporary disability benefits in the amount of 100 percent of average earnings, regardless of continuous work experience.
One of the parents or other legal representative of the minor has the right to receive temporary disability benefits for the entire period of the minor's illness associated with a post-vaccination complication in the amount of 100 percent of the average earnings, regardless of continuous work experience - Federal Law No. 157-FZ of September 17, 1998, Article 21.

Funeral expenses are not specifically paid under this NFCS.

Payment for loss of earnings on an individualised basis appears to be available under this scheme only in cases of temporary disability.

Compensation under this scheme is not capped.

There is no minimum claim value under this NFCS.

Time limits for claims

The do not seem to be any specific time limits on when a claim can be brought under this scheme.

Evaluating claims – standard of proof required

The Social Security Authorities have to make a decision on the payment or refusal to pay compensation within 10 days from the date of application.

The standard of proof required adopted by the Authorities is not specified by the relevant statute or governmental decree. The claimant has to include in the application medical documents confirming the complications, disability, or death following vaccination.

Appeals and the right to litigate

The right to litigate does not seem to be affected by use of the scheme.

There appears to be an external appeal process to review the Authorities’ decisions, although not much information is available on this review process – according to the Decree No. 1013 of 27.12.2000, 16, disputes over the payment of compensation ‘are resolved in the manner prescribed by the legislation of the Russian Federation’.

Useful information and links

The scheme appears to produce periodic reports including data on financial performance (payments, administrative costs, etc) (Decree No. 1013 of 27.12.2000, 18). It is not known whether these reports are made available to the public.

Links to legislation:

Federal Law No. 157-FZ of September 17, 1998: https://minzdrav.gov.ru/documents/8007-federalnyy-zakon-157-fz-ot-17-sentyabrya-1998-g

Decree No. 1013 of 27.12.2000: https://rulaws.ru/goverment/Postanovlenie-Pravitelstva-RF-ot-27.12.2000-N-1013/

Other literature/resources:

CMS (2021). COVID-19 Vaccination and Testing in Russia - Employment Law Perspective. CMS Guide, available at: https://cms.law/en/int/expert-guides/cms-expert-guide-to-vaccination-and-testing-for-employers/russia

Tyupa, V. and Shadrin, A. (2021). Vaccine Compensation Regimes in Russia. CMS Guide, available at: https://cms.law/en/int/expert-guides/cms-expert-guide-to-vaccine-compensation-regimes/russia