The Department of Employment and Labor, through the Compensation Fund (CF) in collaboration with the mutual assurance companies Rand Mutual Assurance (RMA) and Federated Employer’s Mutual Assurance (FEMA), contributed to the funding of Covid-19 vaccines in the amount of 1 . Rl 35 billion paid Uninsured employees who do not have health insurance cover.
The Minister of Employment and Labor, Thulas Nxesi, announced this during the ministry’s budget vote on Friday.
The funds will contribute to phase 2 roll-out vaccinations for an estimated 3 million workers. This is an essential contribution to the government’s plan to vaccinate approximately 75% of the population to achieve the herd immunity goal of 67%.
“The initiative is part of the ongoing collaboration between the public and private sectors to close the financial gap program of the vaccine rollout and proactively ensure that a significant proportion of workers are vaccinated rather than addressing the resulting claims,” it says in a statement from the department.
“We are humble and grateful for the support shown by the boards of directors of CF, RMA and FEMA in pledging to support the Department’s plan to ensure the protection of workers through the vaccine rollout program. This selfless gesture highlights the milestones that can be achieved when all social partners work towards a common purpose and vision.
“The Covid-19 vaccination is unprecedented and one of the largest and most extensive national programs that the government has implemented. As a government, we cannot successfully accomplish this mammoth task alone. We need all hands on deck to overcome this pandemic, ”said Nxesi.
“This is an important turning point in the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic. We believe that if we can have more parties on board to provide similar assistance, we can help the government fill some of the funding gaps in getting vaccinations. If we work together, we can all play an important role in providing a much-needed safety net for millions of vulnerable workers who do not have the resources to fund their vaccinations or buy private health insurance.
“Together we want to make a meaningful contribution to the fight against the coronavirus by ensuring that as many people as possible are vaccinated so that the country can meet herd immunity goals,” said Nxesi.
In just over a year, the CF has received a total of 22,333 Covid- in the workplace, in accordance with the Law on Compensation for Employment Injuries and Occupational Diseases, as well as the COVID-19 policy in the workplace issued by the Ministry of Employment and Labor in July 2020. 19 claims and assumed liability for 11,466 of the claims.
Of these claims, 71 were fatalities and R 57 million (R 57,346,339.88) were spent to support workers with medical assistance, funeral expenses, family benefits and temporary total disability.
The majority of workers who will benefit from this initiative are vulnerable workers who have the fewest resources to mitigate temporary or permanent loss of income due to hospitalization due to Covid-19 infection
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