While USFK Receives Vaccinations, What About Our Military...

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Yang Nak-gyu, Military Specialist Reporter] As the US Forces Korea (USFK) is expected to begin COVID-19 vaccinations as early as next week, concerns are emerging regarding the relatively inadequate infectious disease measures within the South Korean military.

According to the military on the 24th, General Robert Abrams, commander of USFK, stated in a command letter yesterday, "In the coming days, USFK will receive and begin administering the Moderna vaccine to fight COVID-19," adding, "Initial vaccinations will be limited to medical personnel and essential staff in accordance with the US Department of Defense guidelines." It is also known that the vaccination targets within USFK will include Korean military KATUSA soldiers and civilian employees.

On the other hand, the South Korean military is showing vulnerabilities in terms of infrastructure for infectious disease prevention. The military currently possesses one negative pressure ambulance each at the Capital Hospital, Daejeon Hospital, and Goyang Hospital. Negative pressure ambulances are essential transport vehicles that isolate infectious disease patients from the transport stage to prevent secondary and tertiary infections. However, all three negative pressure ambulances currently in use by the military are owned by the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency and are temporarily leased. The military plans to deploy a total of nine such ambulances next year?seven to the Medical Command and one each to the Army and Air Force hospitals?but this is expected to be possible only in the second half of the year.

The shortage of personnel is also severe. There are only five specialists within the military. Among them, only one is a long-term military doctor, while the others include three short-term military doctors and one civilian contract doctor. One short-term military doctor is scheduled to be discharged next year, making personnel replenishment uncertain.

The quantity of preventive vaccines for certain infectious diseases is also problematic. The military manages 21 legally designated infectious diseases: one first-class infectious disease like COVID-19, ten second-class infectious diseases including tuberculosis, and ten third-class infectious diseases such as tsutsugamushi disease. From 2015 to August this year, there have been 4,039 cases of soldiers infected with these diseases. However, the military only holds 12 types of preventive vaccines. The military maintains the position that if soldiers have been vaccinated before enlistment or if there is no domestically approved vaccine, there is no alternative. Nevertheless, cases of transmission of infectious diseases without available vaccines within the military, such as tuberculosis and enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli, continue unabated.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.