Park Hong-geun "Free Flu Vaccination for All Citizens Impossible... Expansion of Eligibility Under Review"

On the 3rd, Park Hong-geun, the Democratic Party of Korea's secretary, is giving a greeting at the Budget and Accounts Special Committee subcommittee held at the National Assembly. [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Heo Midam] Park Hong-geun, the Democratic Party lawmaker and secretary of the National Assembly's Special Committee on Budget and Accounts, stated on the 16th that the opposition party's proposal for "free influenza vaccination for all citizens" is a "practically impossible proposal." However, he expressed that it is possible to consider expanding the scope of free vaccinations to some extent.

Park said in a post on his Facebook on the same day, "I have been well aware of this free influenza vaccination project since the review process of the third supplementary budget (additional budget)."

He explained, "As the ruling party secretary of the Budget and Accounts Committee at the time, I strongly insisted to the government side that it is reasonable to vaccinate as many people as possible against influenza in advance to distinguish from suspected COVID-19 patients, in terms of protecting the health rights of the people and reducing national costs. If nationwide vaccination is difficult due to budget limitations, at least support for those with underlying diseases should be provided."

He continued, "However, due to the clear limitation in production volume and the large number of people with underlying diseases, the final decision was inevitably made to expand the target groups by age. As you know, South Korea has a population of 51.78 million, and according to preliminary demand forecasts, a total of 29.64 million doses of influenza vaccine will be contracted for production this year. This is about 5 million doses more than last year, but it is still insufficient for 22.14 million people compared to the total population," he pointed out.

He added, "Among the contracted influenza vaccines, the national demand secured by the government through the regular budget and the third supplementary budget this year is 18.44 million doses for those under 18, those over 62, pregnant women, soldiers, etc. The rest is private sector supply (11.2 million doses), which is currently being distributed and administered." He explained, "This private supply is mostly administered to the economically active population who have relatively frequent face-to-face contact, usually at their own expense (typically 35,000 to 50,000 KRW)."

Park criticized, "Since additional production or overseas import of influenza vaccines is impossible, some argue that the government should reclaim this private supply for free vaccination or that the government should reimburse the private medical institutions after they administer the vaccines first. However, this is also an unrealistic opinion that could cause many problems."

He said, "It is fundamentally impossible to reclaim the private supply already distributed in the market, and strong opposition from private medical institutions that have profited from this vaccination every year is expected, making acceptance difficult. Ultimately, the 'vaccinate first, support later' method remains, but if the government says it will vaccinate anyone who wants it for free, excessive demand could explode amid the COVID-19 situation, and the current private supply would not be able to handle it. In such a case, the health protection rights of the actual demand groups who need the influenza vaccine, such as the economically active population or those with underlying diseases, would inevitably be restricted."

He also noted, "Excessive competition among private medical institutions could occur, and price surges in distribution and vaccination processes are expected." He added, "There may be points I have not yet reviewed about this project, but these are the contents I have confirmed with related ministries over several days."

Finally, he emphasized, "My conclusion so far is that if the ruling and opposition parties reach an agreement, it is appropriate to consider expanding the scope of free vaccination only to some extent (to groups that can be agreed upon by public sentiment) by utilizing only part of the private supply within the allowable budget range. I hope the People Power Party, if it cannot present any more reasonable alternatives, will align with the people's livelihood timetable rather than a political conflict timetable for party interests."