At the time of writing, nearly 4.4 billion people are fully vaccinated against Covid-19 worldwide. For a complete vaccination schedule, some countries require four doses (depending on your health situation), others require three (the booster dose), however most countries agree on two doses. Our Covid International Health Insurance reimburses you for all Covid-19 related costs including vaccination. Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna, Janssen: which vaccines are authorised in most countries?
Types of vaccines
Without going into scientific details, there are 3 types of vaccines:
- messenger RNA vaccines such as Moderna or Pfizer which inject into the body not the virus but “messenger RNA” molecules manufactured in the laboratory;
- subunit protein vaccines that contain the S (for Spike) protein and not the whole virus, such as Novavax;
- viral vector vaccines that contain a weakened version of a virus that is harmless to humans, into which some of the virus’ genetic material has been introduced, such as Janssen.
Expatriation abroad, which vaccines are recognised?
There are more than 30 vaccines in the world: American, European, Australian or Russian, not all of them are recognised everywhere in the world. Since 20 December, the World Health Organisation has recognised 10 vaccines under the EUL protocol, which permits the evaluation of the quality, safety and efficacy of vaccines. Among the ten recognised vaccines, the most recent are: CovovaxTM, Pfizer-BioNTech, AstraZeneca, Covishield, Janssen-Cilag, Moderna, CoronaVac, COVAXIN, COVOVAX and Novavax. According to an article in The Economist, published in the Courrier International, many vaccines currently used against Covid-19 are recognised by very few countries. AstraZeneca is the most widely used and accepted vaccine in the world by nearly 120 countries followed by Pfizer BioNTech and Moderna, Sputnik (not recognised by WHO) & Sinopharm (over 60 countries).
Source: BBC
When choosing your Covid international health insurance, be sure to check which vaccine is authorised in your host country. If your vaccine is not recognised by the health and medicines authorities of your country of expatriation, you may have to administer another dose. For example, in France, according to Campus France, if you are vaccinated with a vaccine that has obtained the WHO Emergency Use Listing (EUL) label, such as the Chinese vaccines Sinopharm or Sinovac, you will either:
- Receive a new dose of mRNA vaccine in case of complete vaccination
- Receive two doses of mRNA vaccine in case of incomplete vaccination
Be advised that even vaccinated, some countries require a negative PCR test performed no earlier than 72 hours before entry in the territory.
Covid International Health Insurance, Foyer Global Health Coverage
By choosing one of our international health covers, you can benefit from a reimbursement of all your Covid-19 PCR tests as well as vaccines and treatments related to the coronavirus. Foyer Global Health covers the cost of Covid-19 vaccination in our Special and Exclusive plans. All vaccines are covered except for PrEP, a preventive treatment for HIV.
Our plans include:
- No advance payment for treatment in the event of hospitalisation
- 24/7 multilingual medical assistance
- Free unlimited teleconsultation service and Second Medical Opinion with our partner Teladoc Health
- The possibility for each family member to choose their own level of cover
Discover the benefits of our expatriate health plans via this link!
