Covid19: Higher Premiums For Unvaccinated Clients, Warns Discovery Life
- Discovery Life has warned clients that they could face paying higher premiums if they choose not to get vaccinated for Covid-19
- The company says they have studied trends and have found that getting vaccinated lowers the risk of contracting the virus and death
- Discovery Life will also award new clients who choose to get vaccinated as part of their PayBacks reward system
PAY ATTENTION: Click “See First” under the “Following” tab to see Briefly.co.za News on your News Feed!
JOHANNESBURG - Discovery Life has warned its clientele that they could possibly pay higher premiums if they refuse to get the coronavirus vaccine.
The company stated that it would be implementing new policies and that refusing to be vaccinated is treated now in the same way that smoking or lifestyle disorders like diabetes are, with a higher premium, according to a report by The South African. This would mostly affect clients with new policies.
Source: Getty Images
The company did however state that premiums would be adjusted or lowered should a client decide to get the Covid-19 vaccine at a later stage.
PAY ATTENTION: Never miss breaking news – join Briefly News' Telegram channel
In a statement issued by Discovery on Thursday, the company stated they would also be rewarding clients who get vaccinated by introducing higher PayBacks. The company stated that getting vaccinated is now a consideration when determining benefits for clients.
New Discovery clients will be given the opportunity to fully benefit from the PayBack rewards programme for the first year of their policy should they get vaccinated.
“Through our premium PayBack reward mechanism, we are offering all qualifying new clients their maximum possible PayBack, given their selected PayBack option and Integrator type, for the first year of their new policy,” says CEO of Discovery Life Riaan van Reenen.
This change in policy from Discovery Life stems from the trends the company has seen as a result of Covid-19. Van Reenen stated that gender, age, lifestyle choices, co-morbidities and occupation have influenced the severity of the coronavirus as well as life insurance claims.
He stated that in the same way healthier clients have lower premiums the same is applied to clients who get vaccinated because vaccinations have proven to be effective and lower the risk of death.
“Our internal data suggests that an average 75-year-old who is fully vaccinated has a similar risk of dying from Covid-19 to a typical 40-year-old who has not been vaccinated," he said.
The US donates over 5 million Pfizer vaccines to South Africa
Briefly News previously reported that the United States of America has donated 5.7 million doses of the Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine to South Africa, which are expected to arrive in South Africa on Saturday, according to News24.
This recent donation will propel South Africa's vaccination programme after the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine had been discontinued due to its ineffectiveness to reduce the spread of Covid-19 in South Africa.
The US mission stated this donation was part of the country's commitment to fighting the coronavirus pandemic globally. A total of 6.8 million vaccine doses had been administered in South Africa as of Tuesday evening.
Enjoyed reading our story? Download BRIEFLY's news app on Google Play now and stay up-to-date with major South African news!
Source: Briefly News
