"Business Travelers with Frequent Trips to Receive Vaccines First" Introduction of Business Vaccines

[Asia Economy Reporter Changhwan Lee] Businesspeople traveling abroad for business trips will be able to apply for priority COVID-19 vaccination starting from the 17th. This is a decisive measure taken by the government two months after Asia Economy first reported on January 14 the voices from the business community calling for a plan to prioritize vaccination for businesspeople who frequently travel overseas.

On the 11th, the government announced that it has established procedures for COVID-19 vaccination for those visiting overseas for essential activities. Businesspeople departing for important economic activities, government officials on official trips directly affecting national interests such as defense and diplomacy, and those traveling abroad for public interest purposes can apply for vaccination starting from the 17th if their overseas visit period is around three months.

So far, the business community has been urging the government to devise a vaccination plan targeting businesspeople going on overseas trips. This is because, even amid the widespread spread of COVID-19, thousands of employees from both large and small companies are risking infection to travel abroad for business.

The industry expects that the first case of vaccination related to economic activities will be a businessperson traveling abroad to procure automotive semiconductors. Recently, the supply instability of automotive semiconductors has become a global issue.

It is anticipated that the business community will later request an expansion of the business vaccination target.

At the ‘Hope Concert for the Era of $700 Billion Exports Together’ held yesterday at COEX in Samseong-dong, Seoul, Koo Ja-yeol, Chairman of the Korea International Trade Association, said, "With vaccination starting domestically, we expect overseas business trips by businesspeople to become more active in the second half of the year," adding, "However, as there is a possibility that major countries will require vaccination certificates, we requested priority vaccination for businesspeople whose overseas trips are essential."

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