Health Authorities "Need to Consider Incentives for Vaccination"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Dongwoo Lee] On the 19th, the quarantine authorities stated that the most effective way to respond to COVID-19 is vaccination, and that it is necessary to consider providing incentives to expand vaccination coverage.

Baek Gyeong-taek, head of the COVID-19 Vaccination Response Promotion Team (Promotion Team), said at a regular briefing that "the most certain response to COVID-19 is expanding vaccination and adhering to quarantine rules through social distancing," and added, "One of the ways to expand vaccination is to consider incentive measures at a certain point in the future."

This aligns with opinions expressed by some experts during the previous night's meeting of the social distancing advisory body, the 'Life Quarantine Committee' (Saengbangwi). The meeting discussed the need to extend social distancing and the provision of incentives for vaccinated individuals.

Specifically, some Saengbangwi members reportedly argued that to increase vaccination and reservation rates and alleviate the pain of self-employed people, incentives such as excluding vaccinated individuals from private gathering limits should be provided.

The government initially planned to implement nationwide incentives for vaccinated individuals from the 1st of last month, including exemptions from outdoor mask-wearing and private gathering limits. However, as the fourth wave intensified mainly in the metropolitan area, the incentives were first applied only in non-metropolitan areas. As the spread continued to worsen, most of these measures were suspended, especially in areas under level 4 social distancing.

If the incentive system is reinstated, fully vaccinated individuals will be excluded from private gathering limits, allowing gatherings of 3 or more people after 6 p.m. to include 3 or 4 people if vaccinated individuals are included.

The Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters (CDSCH) is reportedly considering providing such vaccination incentives at restaurants and cafes after 6 p.m., but limiting the maximum gathering size to 4 people. At the same time, there is internal discussion about shortening the operating hours of restaurants and cafes from the current 10 p.m. to 9 p.m.

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