COVID-19 Vaccine Injury Families Association Urges Jeong Eun-kyeong in Meeting to Establish Korean-Style Causality Assessment Criteria

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Seo So-jeong] On the 24th, Jung Eun-kyung, Commissioner of the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA), held a private meeting with four members of the COVID-19 Vaccine Damage Family Association to hear their demands and difficulties.

At the meeting, the bereaved families expressed difficulties in communication regarding adverse reactions to the vaccine and urged the establishment of Korean-style causality assessment criteria. They also requested expanded information disclosure on the causality assessment and compensation review process, as well as the presence of patients (or guardians) during these procedures. They emphasized the need to increase opportunities for specialist consultations through the establishment of dedicated hospitals by local governments and called for explanations regarding discrepancies between the opinions of primary care physicians, autopsy doctors, and the committee's final decisions. They also requested the holding of a general meeting with all members.

In response, Commissioner Jung stated, "We will expand the staff at the 1339 call center and the response organization within the KDCA, and improve the management system by providing guidance on the adverse reaction review process." She added, "We plan to provide sufficient data to the COVID-19 Vaccine Safety Committee for causality assessment, review the evidence of causality, and apply compensation retroactively if causality with the vaccine is confirmed."

However, Commissioner Jung noted, "The Damage Compensation Expert Committee makes decisions by comprehensively considering the opinions of primary care physicians and autopsy doctors, the final patient condition, domestic and international research papers, and trends from international health organizations, so their judgments may differ from those of local governments or primary care physicians."

She also said, "Regardless of causality, in cases where urgent support such as medical expenses is needed, assistance can be provided through emergency welfare and catastrophic medical expenses programs, and we will strive to ensure that guidance is provided through the 1339 call center and local governments."

Furthermore, she added, "We have already completed amendments to relevant laws to allow omission of autopsy reports in cases where causality can be recognized without an autopsy," and "We are currently reviewing additional amendment requests."

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