Can Healthcare Workers Really Get Leftover Vaccines Through 'Jiin Chance'?

On the morning of the 16th, a medical staff member is administering a vaccine at the vaccination center set up at Nowon-gu Community Sports Center in Seoul. [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Seoyoung Kwon] Suspicions have been raised among netizens that it might be possible to receive leftover COVID-19 vaccines by using acquaintances who work in the medical field.

Recently, controversies related to receiving leftover vaccines through so-called 'acquaintance chances' have been spreading across various social networking services (SNS) and online communities. There are complaints that people who know medical workers get priority access to leftover vaccine doses. In fact, one netizen asked, "Is it okay for hospitals with leftover vaccines to not accept reservations and instead contact acquaintances to get vaccinated?" Meanwhile, a post on an online community claimed that several friends and their family members used acquaintances to all get vaccinated.

Another online community post expressed suspicion about the hospital’s operational system after having several leftover vaccine appointments canceled. However, opinions among netizens on these suspicions are divided. Comments included, "Such things are unlikely to happen system-wise. How can being canceled several times be a reasonable suspicion?", "Isn't it just that whoever grabs the reservation first gets vaccinated?", and "Still, each hospital might have slightly different operating methods."

In response, today (the 19th), Hong Jeong-ik, head of the COVID-19 Vaccination Management Team at the COVID-19 Vaccination Response Promotion Group, stated, "Until last week, commissioned medical institutions prepared standby lists to reduce the disposal of leftover vaccines. Since there were no separate restrictions on recipients of discarded vaccines, it was possible to vaccinate acquaintances." He added, "Now, we have agreed with the medical community to operate an integrated system using same-day SNS reservations through platforms like Naver or Kakao without using standby lists, so medical institutions cannot arbitrarily select users for leftover vaccines."

However, there are concerns that since each commissioned medical institution is responsible for inputting the available vaccine quantities for same-day reservations on SNS apps, vaccination through hospital acquaintances is still possible.

Team leader Hong explained, "If vaccinations are conducted by pre-selecting recipients, it would violate the guidelines agreed upon to operate integrated same-day SNS reservations." He further stated, "If the same-day reservation is for a vaccine that would otherwise be discarded, it is possible for anyone to receive it urgently."