[Asia Economy Reporter Na Ye-eun] The quarantine authorities stated regarding the illicit reservation of leftover COVID-19 vaccines using macros, "Macros are blocked by identifying known patterns rather than preemptive blocking," adding, "They cannot be fundamentally excluded or neutralized."
On the 28th, Jung Woo-jin, head of the COVID-19 Vaccination Response Task Force System Management Team, said at a back briefing, "When a new macro appears, we apply individual blocking through pattern analysis," and added, "There are limits to detecting new macros in advance." He continued, "We are continuously discussing finding macros through Naver and Kakao. We are also holding an emergency meeting today."
Team leader Jung mentioned that help from Naver and Kakao is needed to block macros. However, Naver and Kakao themselves cannot perfectly block the use of macro programs. This is because macros operate by being individually installed by users on smartphones or PCs.
Jung said, "If Naver or Kakao can develop programs that are difficult to execute through macros, there may be ways to indirectly block usage via macros," adding, "The discussion is aimed at finding ways to prevent reservation attempts using macros as much as possible from the perspective of fairness."
Earlier, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) launched a leftover vaccine reservation service through Naver and Kakao at the end of May to minimize vaccine wastage caused by no-shows at scheduled times and to collectively utilize leftover vaccines. Due to the overwhelming number of applicants daily, it has become practically difficult to successfully make vaccination reservations through the apps.
Meanwhile, reports of successful leftover vaccine reservations using macros have been circulating on online communities and social networking services (SNS). Although the KDCA stated last month that it would "quickly prepare countermeasures and take action" regarding illicit vaccine reservations, reservations using macros continue to this day.
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