Kwon Deok-cheol "Rapid Response to COVID-19 Vaccine Side Effects... Detailed Social Distancing Measures"

First Meeting After Inauguration... "Minimizing Infection with the Three-Pronged Approach of Vaccine, Treatment, and Quarantine"

[Asia Economy Reporter Seo So-jung] Kwon Deok-cheol, Minister of Health and Welfare, stated that as the conditional commercialization of COVID-19 vaccines and treatments begins in February, they will closely monitor side effects and respond promptly. He also predicted that the COVID-19 outbreak would continue for a considerable period even after vaccination starts, and decided to implement more detailed social distancing guidelines for precise quarantine measures.

On the 21st, Minister Kwon held his first meeting since taking office via a non-face-to-face format and said, "This year, we will coordinate the three elements of vaccines, treatments, and quarantine well to restore daily life as quickly as possible."

Minister Kwon said, "I understand that COVID-19 vaccinations will begin in Korea from February, and domestically produced treatments will be conditionally commercialized in early February," adding, "The goal is to achieve herd immunity by vaccinating 70% of the population by around November, but just as colds cannot be completely avoided even with vaccines, the same applies to COVID-19."

He said, "The reason for getting vaccinated is to prevent mild patients from becoming severe," and added, "Korea's main goal this winter is to minimize infections and reduce severe cases."

He emphasized that communication with the public will be important in future vaccination efforts. Minister Kwon said, "Last year, some unverified information related to flu vaccinations caused people to avoid getting vaccinated, so we will pay even more attention to this aspect regarding COVID-19."

Regarding the growing public fatigue due to prolonged social distancing, he mentioned the need to refine quarantine guidelines focusing on activities and behaviors rather than uniform distancing measures. Minister Kwon said, "During the third wave, we did not go to level 3 but implemented a ban on private gatherings of five people at level 2.5, which was effective, but public fatigue increased, causing concern. As public fatigue rises and people become desensitized, participation may become difficult, so I think we need to subdivide quarantine rules based on activities and behaviors and move toward precise quarantine."

Regarding the issue of securing hospital beds during the spread of the third wave, he said, "We had a plan to secure beds when 1,000 confirmed cases occurred daily for 20 days, but it took some time to apply it in practice," adding, "An administrative order was issued to secure 1% of beds in tertiary hospitals, but it took time to free beds from other critical patients, so we will refine the system to ensure timely patient transfers in the future."