Jeong Eun-kyung: "With 90% vaccination in the elderly and over 80% in the general adult population, 'With Corona' is possible"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Seo So-jeong] The quarantine authorities have stated that the transition to ‘With COVID’?which focuses on managing severe cases rather than suppressing confirmed cases?is possible when the vaccination rate exceeds 90% among the elderly and 80% among the general adult population.

At the COVID-19 regular briefing on the 26th, Jeong Eun-kyung, Commissioner of the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA), said, "As the vaccination rate increases and the Delta variant becomes dominant, discussions about With COVID are progressing significantly."

Commissioner Jeong said, "To shift or supplement quarantine strategies to With COVID, it is necessary to complete vaccinations for at least 70% of the population, ideally over 90% for the elderly, and over 80% for the general adult population."

Regarding the timing of the transition to With COVID, Commissioner Jeong responded, "It is difficult to specify when because various factors such as new variants, medical response systems, and the scale of outbreaks must be considered."

He added, "We need to raise the vaccination rate, which is a prerequisite, to the maximum by the end of October, safely control the spread through various quarantine measures, and prepare to further systematize the quarantine and epidemiological medical response systems from now on. Only then will a transition to With COVID that minimizes damage be possible."

However, even after transitioning to With COVID, monitoring will be necessary regarding the relaxation of social distancing and quarantine rules.

Commissioner Jeong added, "Wearing masks indoors is likely to be the last personal quarantine rule to be maintained for the longest time."

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