hankyoreh

Health workers at a public health center in Gwangju inspect low dead space syringes that are to be distributed to vaccination centers across South Korea on Wednesday. (Yonhap News)

The South Korean government is offering “vaccination incentives” that loosen some disease prevention rules for those who have received their first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, including exemption from mandatory outdoor mask-wearing beginning in July.

Experts were divided over whether the measures would be enough to drive up the vaccination rate, with some suggesting that financial compensation is another approach worth considering.

The Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasure Headquarters (CDSCH) announced Wednesday a “plan for supporting a return to everyday life for fully vaccinated persons,” including three phases of adjusted disease control measures based on the vaccination situation.

The first phase, which goes into effect on June 1, excludes those who received their first vaccine dose at least 14 days earlier when counting the number of people allowed at gatherings of immediate family members, currently capped at eight.

Senior citizen welfare and community center programs open to those who have received their first dose or both doses are also to be promoted, with discounts or priority access to be granted on fees for major public facilities such as national parks.

The second phase is to enter effect as of July, after completion of first dose administration to 13 million people during the first half of the year. With these measures, those who have received both vaccine doses will not be counted toward the four-person limit on private gatherings.

For restaurants and cafes, those with their first dose will not be counted toward the limit on group size for outdoor use, while those with both doses will not be counted toward the limit on group size for either indoor or outdoor use.

The requirement to wear masks outdoors is also to be waived for those who have received their first or second dose. In outdoor spaces such as parks and hiking trails, those individuals will be able to walk and exercise without masks freely, even when they are less than two meters away from others.

The mask requirement is to remain in effect for outdoor assemblies and demonstrations with large numbers of people present.

The third phase enters effect after late September when over 70 percent of South Korean residents will have received their first vaccine dose. This phase will include a renewed discussion on social distancing rules, with an eye toward a return to pre-pandemic life.

An examination of whether to loosen requirements for indoor mask-wearing is also to begin around December.

Experts were divided in their response to the announcement.

Many agreed that steps to incentivize vaccination are sensible from a public health standpoint. Choi Won-seok, a professor of infectious disease at Korea University Ansan Hospital, said, “Just as countries at a risk for yellow fever would demand inoculation for people arriving there, the response to people who have and have not been vaccinated is obviously going to be different from a public health standpoint.”

Other experts said relaxing disease control measures is still risky, amid predictions that variants of the COVID-19 will start to predominate among domestic infections.

“The UK variant is expected to account for over half [of new confirmed cases] within the first half of the year,” explained Kim Woo-joo, a professor of infectious disease at Korea University Guro Hospital.

“At a time when even the UK is recommending reducing the 11- to 12-week gap between AstraZeneca vaccine doses because of variants, it would be a step backward for us to exempt people from outdoor mask-wearing just because they have had a single dose,” he said.

Lee Jae-gap, a professor of infectious disease at Hallym University Kangnam Sacred Heart Hospital, said, “Right now, the standard for relaxing disease prevention rules is two weeks after the first dose, but in view of the time needed to form antibodies, it seems necessary to increase that to around four weeks.”

In response, Park Hye-kyung, director of the disease prevention support team for the Central Disease Control Headquarters, said, “The vaccines that are currently being administered are highly effective at preventing the UK variant, and while there are still lingering concerns about the South Africa, Brazil and India variants, it is still too early to say that they are becoming prevalent.”

Experts also differed in their predictions on whether the announced measures would help drive up the vaccination rate.

Lee Jae-gap suggested, “It may help promote the vaccination rate to expand the scope of senior citizen center use and allow participation in religious gatherings for vaccinated seniors, which could encourage participation from certain religious segments that have been politically distancing themselves from the administration.”

Kim Yoon, a professor of health policy and management at Seoul National University, said, “I don’t know if these measures are going to translate into any major changes in the vaccination rate.”

“It’s more important to step up management and support for adverse reactions in order to allay anxieties about severe adverse reactions, which is the main reason for people avoiding vaccination,” he said.

Others suggested providing financial incentives rather than relaxing disease prevention rules, which could contribute to the virus’s spread.

Jung Jae-hun, a professor of preventive medicine at Gachon University, said, “Relaxing disease prevention guidelines should be approached cautiously at a time like now, when the virus is present at a small scale but growing and the vaccination rate is low.”

“An approach like linking vaccination to disaster relief funds or providing bold economic incentives with regional currency or a lottery would be a way of increasing the vaccination rate without affecting disease prevention,” he added.

Lee Jae-gap said, “Even if the sums aren’t large, we’ll need to consider an approach where we provide economic compensation through things like regional vouchers or cash for transportation costs.”

By Kim Ji-hoon, staff reporter

Please direct comments or questions to [english@hani.co.kr]