IRDAI allows insurers to offer 'Corona Kavach' as group insurance policy

The standard group policy is expected to be useful to various private and public establishments for covering the COVID-19 related medical needs of their employees, the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (Irdai) said in a circular.

July 21, 2020 / 21:58 IST

File image: Reuters

Amid a spurt in coronavirus cases in the country, regulator Irdai on Tuesday allowed health insurers to offer 'Corona Kavach' as a standard group insurance policy to help public, private sector companies and other business entities to provide insurance cover to their employees. As per insurance companies, the individual short-term Corona Kavach health indemnity policy has evoked good response after its launch on July 10. All 30 insurers have started offering the policy.

The standard group policy is expected to be useful to various private and public establishments for covering the COVID-19 related medical needs of their employees, the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (Irdai) said in a circular.

"The group policy can provide protection to a large number of employees engaged in manufacturing, services, SMEs, MSMEs, logistics sector, migrant workers and bring peace of mind to them, their family members and the employers," the regulator said.

The group policy will also be useful for various categories of frontline workers as groups. In case the group consists entirely of doctors, nurses or healthcare workers, Irdai said, adding "a discount of 5 per cent will also be available as a mark of recognition of their contribution in fighting the society's battle against COVID-19."

All terms and conditions of standard policy will be same as that for the Corona Kavach policy for individuals which has already been launched by health insurance companies.

COVID-19 Vaccine

Frequently Asked Questions

How does a vaccine work?

A vaccine works by mimicking a natural infection. A vaccine not only induces immune response to protect people from any future COVID-19 infection, but also helps quickly build herd immunity to put an end to the pandemic. Herd immunity occurs when a sufficient percentage of a population becomes immune to a disease, making the spread of disease from person to person unlikely. The good news is that SARS-CoV-2 virus has been fairly stable, which increases the viability of a vaccine.

How many types of vaccines are there?

There are broadly four types of vaccine — one, a vaccine based on the whole virus (this could be either inactivated, or an attenuated [weakened] virus vaccine); two, a non-replicating viral vector vaccine that uses a benign virus as vector that carries the antigen of SARS-CoV; three, nucleic-acid vaccines that have genetic material like DNA and RNA of antigens like spike protein given to a person, helping human cells decode genetic material and produce the vaccine; and four, protein subunit vaccine wherein the recombinant proteins of SARS-COV-2 along with an adjuvant (booster) is given as a vaccine.

What does it take to develop a vaccine of this kind?

Vaccine development is a long, complex process. Unlike drugs that are given to people with a diseased, vaccines are given to healthy people and also vulnerable sections such as children, pregnant women and the elderly. So rigorous tests are compulsory. History says that the fastest time it took to develop a vaccine is five years, but it usually takes double or sometimes triple that time.

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