Teachers Aged 60 and Over Excluded from August Vaccination List... KFTA Demands Vaccination Opportunity

Excluding Those Aged 60 and Over from Vaccination List Delivered to Schools
Many Teachers Aged 60+ Did Not Apply or Cancelled Vaccination
"Ambiguous Guidelines and Instructions... Prepare a Vaccine Vaccination Plan"

On the 22nd, as the number of people receiving the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine surpassed 15 million and the vaccination rate approached 30%, the vaccination center in Dongjak-gu, Seoul was busy. As of midnight that day, the number of people who received the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine increased by 20,231, reaching a cumulative total of 15,039,998. This accounts for 29.3% of the total population. The number of people who have completed both doses reached 4,167,533, which is about 8.1% of the entire population. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

[Asia Economy Reporter Han Jinju] Although it was decided to vaccinate all teachers by August, it has been revealed that teachers aged 60 and over were excluded from the vaccination target group. There have been demands that they should be given the same vaccination opportunities.

On the 25th, the Korea Federation of Teachers' Associations urged, "Measures should be taken to allow teachers aged 60 and over to apply for and receive vaccinations without age discrimination."

The Ministry of Education announced that it would promote vaccination for kindergarten, elementary, middle, and high school staff, as well as third-year high school students and exam candidates, ahead of the full reopening of schools in the second semester. However, teachers aged 60 and over were excluded from the teacher vaccination target because they were already included in the vaccination target group for those aged 60 and over.

According to the Federation, many teachers in the age group included in the national vaccination target for those aged 60 and over either did not apply or canceled their applications after the announcement of the overall teacher vaccination plan by the quarantine authorities.

The Federation pointed out, "If vaccination opportunities are fundamentally denied to teachers of a certain age group, it may be difficult to form herd immunity in schools before the start of the second semester, and student safety cannot be guaranteed."

The Federation stated, "This issue largely arose due to ambiguous guidelines and instructions from the government and education authorities, and it should not be shifted solely to individual teachers' responsibility. The Ministry of Education should establish a policy allowing all school staff to apply for vaccination regardless of age and promptly inform schools at all levels."

The Federation also said, "The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency should immediately communicate and cooperate with the Ministry of Education to enable teachers to apply for and receive vaccinations without age distinctions."