Seoul City Launches 'COVID-19 Vaccine Adverse Reaction Consultation Center'... Medical Professionals Provide Comprehensive Counseling

Operation of Adverse Reaction Consultation Center from the 11th for Overall Adverse Reaction Support
Phone Consultation Available for All Citizens... Adverse Reaction Consultation and Damage Report Handling

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] The Seoul Metropolitan Government will operate the ‘COVID-19 Vaccine Adverse Reaction Consultation Center’ starting from the 11th, where citizens can receive comprehensive consultations from medical professionals regarding adverse reactions after COVID-19 vaccination.

Any citizen can receive consultations via phone about vaccine adverse reactions, guidance on procedures such as damage reporting and compensation, instructions and response methods in case of severe adverse reactions including death, and civil complaint consultations related to damage compensation.

The Adverse Reaction Consultation Center operates on weekdays from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., staffed by eight medical consultants who provide consultation services covering all aspects of vaccine adverse reactions. Going forward, Seoul plans to gradually increase the number of consultants based on the volume of consultation cases.

Applications for damage compensation due to vaccine side effects must be submitted to the relevant public health center within five years from the date of the adverse reaction, along with the required documents. Afterwards, the Seoul Metropolitan Government and the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency will conduct reviews including causality investigations related to the vaccination before making compensation decisions. Eligible compensation includes medical expenses, nursing care fees, disability and death lump-sum compensation, among others.

In particular, Seoul aims to alleviate anxiety about vaccination and respond quickly to adverse reactions by targeting prompt compensation within 60 days for ‘small-amount damage compensation’ under 300,000 KRW in medical expenses. This Adverse Reaction Consultation Center was established following the revision of the Infectious Disease Control and Prevention Act Enforcement Decree in January this year, which delegated small-amount damage compensation tasks for COVID-19 vaccine adverse reactions from the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency to metropolitan and provincial governments. The center is scheduled to operate until the end of this year.

Park Yu-mi, Director of the Seoul Metropolitan Government’s Citizen Health Bureau, said, “By operating the COVID-19 Adverse Reaction Consultation Center, we will strengthen consultation services so that citizens can quickly resolve any questions about adverse reactions or compensation procedures after vaccination.” She added, “Especially for small-amount damage compensation, we will promote prompt compensation through Seoul’s own causality evaluation.”

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