Last Week, Foreign COVID-19 Cases Accounted for 14.9%... Increasing Foreign Vaccination Rate Using Janssen Vaccine (Update)

On the 15th, as the spread of COVID-19 intensifies mainly in the metropolitan area, the temporary screening clinic set up at Seoul Station Plaza is crowded with citizens. Photo by Moon Honam munonam@

[Asia Economy Reporter Seo So-jeong] As the number of new COVID-19 cases among foreigners continues to rise recently, the government has decided to strengthen vaccination efforts targeting this group. They plan to increase the vaccination rate among foreigners by utilizing the Janssen vaccine, which requires only a single dose for completion.

On the 15th, the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters (CDSCH) discussed the "Special Quarantine Measures during the Chuseok Holiday Period to Refrain from Movement and Gatherings and Strengthen COVID-19 Testing and Vaccination" with the Ministry of Justice, Ministry of the Interior and Safety, and Ministry of Employment and Labor, and announced these plans.

According to the CDSCH, COVID-19 infections among foreigners have been steadily increasing. Son Young-rae, head of the Social Strategy Division at the Central Accident Response Headquarters, stated, "Last week (September 5?11), foreigners accounted for 14.9% (1,804 cases) of the total confirmed cases," adding, "The number of confirmed foreign cases increased from 940 in week 32 to 1,804 in week 37."

In response, the Ministry of Justice plans to form a special on-site inspection and publicity team of about 220 personnel across 19 immigration and foreigner-related offices nationwide for two weeks until the 26th to prevent blind spots in quarantine measures for foreigners. During the Chuseok holiday period, multilingual (Korean, English, Chinese) notices requesting compliance with quarantine rules will be produced and distributed and posted in areas with high foreigner concentrations, major stations, terminals, and airports.

To prevent gatherings and business operations that violate quarantine guidelines, special inspections will focus on foreigner group residences (beehive villages, dormitories, etc.), entertainment and massage establishments, among others. Additionally, efforts to encourage COVID-19 testing and vaccination, provide free testing for undocumented foreigners, and inform about exemptions from notification obligations will be strengthened.

The Foreigners’ Comprehensive Information Center (1345) will provide guidance through consultations on the notification exemption system and the significant expansion of acceptable identity verification documents for foreigners, enabling undocumented foreigners to safely receive COVID-19 testing and vaccination. Vaccinations will be allowed even if passports have expired, foreigner registration cards have expired, identity verification documents issued by Korean diplomatic missions are presented, or employers provide foreigners’ personal information.

The Ministry of the Interior and Safety plans to increase the vaccination rate among foreigners through local government autonomous vaccination using the Janssen vaccine. Autonomous vaccination by local governments involves selecting vaccination targets independently according to regional quarantine characteristics and promoting vaccinations accordingly.

As of midnight on the 14th, out of 350,000 doses of the Janssen vaccine allocated to local governments, a total of 301,000 doses have been requested, with approximately 46.5% (about 140,000 people) of these requests coming from foreigners.

Son Young-rae stated, "Considering the advantage of the Janssen vaccine, which completes vaccination with a single dose, we plan to focus on vaccinating foreign workers who are at high risk of cluster infections due to harsh working environments, group living conditions, and concerns about identity exposure (in the case of undocumented foreigners)."

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