Husband Fully Vaccinated... Overwhelmed as He Holds Hands with Wife After 15 Months 'Emotional'

First Day of In-Person Visits Resumption at Nursing Hospitals for Fully Vaccinated Individuals

On the morning of the 1st, when in-person visits became possible if either the resident or the visitor at nursing hospitals or facilities had completed COVID-19 vaccination (2 weeks after the second dose), Kim (88), a resident, and his wife Lee (89) held hands during an in-person visit at Kyunghee Rehabilitation Nursing Hospital in Danwon-gu, Ansan-si, Gyeonggi-do. 2021.6.1 / Photo by Joint Press Corps

At around 8:30 a.m. on the 1st, Kim Chang-il (83) entered Seonhanbit Nursing Hospital in Gwangju, Gyeonggi Province, accompanied by his eldest son and his wife. He was there to visit his wife, who was hospitalized. After verifying the vaccination certificate he had prepared, Kim underwent a temperature check and registration before waiting for his wife in the face-to-face visitation room set up on the third floor. His wife, Gu Mo (77), who entered the visitation room in a wheelchair pushed by a caregiver, burst into tears upon seeing her husband. Kim repeatedly comforted her, saying, "It's okay, it's okay," while holding her hand.

It had been about 15 months since Kim and his wife last held hands face-to-face, ever since the COVID-19 outbreak began in Korea in February last year. Face-to-face visits, which had been impossible for over a year, became possible after Kim completed his second dose of the COVID-19 vaccine on the 12th of last month. Kim’s eldest son, Kim Han-gu (54), who accompanied him, said with a smile, "Before COVID-19, our two sons and one daughter took turns visiting every week, but as face-to-face visits became difficult, my mother’s health deteriorated rapidly. I think her condition will improve from now on." On this day, a total of two face-to-face visits, including that of the Kim couple, took place at Seonhanbit Nursing Hospital.

At Kyunghee Rehabilitation Nursing Hospital in Ansan, Gyeonggi Province, a meeting between resident Kim Mo (87) and his wife Lee Mo (88) was also arranged. Kim completed his second AstraZeneca vaccination on the 24th of last month, and his wife finished her Pfizer vaccination on April 30. When Lee entered room 458, which was set up as a special visitation room, Kim, who had arrived earlier and was waiting, greeted his wife. Kim held Lee’s hand tightly, choking up for a while. Lee smiled as she repeatedly stroked his hand, saying, "Why are your hands so cold?"

Photo by Joint Press Corps = On the morning of the 1st, at Seonhanbit Nursing Hospital in Gwangju-si, Gyeonggi Province, Kim Chang-il (83) met face-to-face with his wife, Gu Mo (77), and shared his feelings with the press. From today, face-to-face visits are allowed in nursing hospitals and nursing facilities if either the patient or the visitor has completed vaccination. However, in facilities where the first-dose vaccination rate of residents and staff is below 75%, visitors must undergo a COVID-19 test in advance and confirm a negative result.

From this day, the government allowed face-to-face visits for nursing hospital residents and visitors nationwide if either party had completed the second dose of the COVID-19 vaccine and two weeks had passed since. This decision was based on the judgment that a certain level of immunity had been established within nursing hospitals and facilities. As of midnight on the 31st of last month, the first-dose vaccination rates for nursing hospitals and nursing facilities were 78.4% and 81.8%, respectively. If the visitor has been vaccinated, face-to-face visits can be conducted by simply following basic quarantine rules such as wearing masks and hand sanitization, regardless of the resident’s vaccination status. If the resident has completed vaccination but the visitor has not, a negative test result may be required depending on the facility’s vaccination rate (based on a 75% first-dose vaccination rate).

Yoo Jun-young, Administrative Director of Kyunghee Rehabilitation Nursing Hospital, said, "Until now, we only allowed video calls, but they were happy to be able to have face-to-face visits. The elderly who visited today said they would come again tomorrow or the day after to continue conversations they couldn’t finish today."

However, the number of people eligible for face-to-face visits this month is expected to be limited. This is because the interval between the first and second doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine is 11 to 12 weeks, so not many have passed two weeks after the second dose yet. Kim Ki-joo, Director of Seonhanbit Nursing Hospital, explained, "Most inpatients received the AstraZeneca vaccine, and their second doses are scheduled for mid-June. Since only some elderly guardians aged 75 and older who received the Pfizer vaccine can currently have face-to-face visits, we expect the number of visits to increase significantly in July."

The resumption of face-to-face visits at nursing facilities is part of the vaccine incentive program. In fact, as news spread that face-to-face visits were now possible, residents who had been hesitant about vaccination began expressing their willingness to get vaccinated one after another. Director Kim said, "About 10% of inpatients had refused vaccination, but about half of those patients changed their minds and decided to get vaccinated again. We hope vaccines will continue to be supplied steadily so that new patients and staff can also get vaccinated and maintain the vaccination rate."

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