First Case of Industrial Accident Recognition for Nursing Assistant with Limb Paralysis After COVID-19 Vaccination

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Sejong=Asia Economy Reporter Moon Chaeseok] The case of a nurse assistant in her 40s who showed symptoms of limb paralysis after receiving the COVID-19 vaccine has been approved as an industrial accident.

The Korea Workers' Compensation and Welfare Service under the Ministry of Employment and Labor announced on the 6th that it recognized the case of nurse assistant A, who suffered from 'acute disseminated encephalomyelitis' after receiving the AstraZeneca (AZ) vaccine on March 12, as an industrial accident. This is the first case of industrial accident approval related to vaccine side effects among medical personnel.

The Service's Occupational Disease Judgment Committee held a review meeting on the 4th with seven members including infectious disease specialists and legal experts, and recognized A's case as an occupational disease. They considered ▲ that A was a priority vaccination target due to her occupation and received the vaccine following active guidance from her workplace ▲ the vaccination was recognized as work time ▲ it would have been difficult to perform her duties without vaccination ▲ there were no underlying or genetic diseases that could cause adverse vaccine reactions ▲ and there was a temporal correlation between vaccination and the adverse reaction.

The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) viewed that there were no precedents or sufficient data regarding illnesses applied for as adverse reactions to the COVID-19 vaccine, but the judgment committee determined that this was insufficient to deny the causal relationship necessary for recognizing the industrial accident.

Earlier, on June 8, the KDCA had issued a review opinion stating, "Although the timing of the adverse reaction after vaccination is temporally plausible, there is insufficient data on the vaccine and the adverse reaction." However, the nurse assistant was selected as a recipient of the national medical expense support program, which provides up to 10 million KRW in medical expenses.

Kang Soonhee, Director of the Service, said, "We will actively protect workers with industrial accidents by conducting objective and fair investigations and judgments not only on adverse reactions occurring after COVID-19 vaccination but also on future occupational disease applications."

A also showed symptoms of 'binocular diplopia,' where objects appear overlapped, along with acute disseminated encephalomyelitis. In April, A's case was posted on the Blue House National Petition Board, drawing social attention. The petitioner, who identified himself as A's husband, expressed grievance, saying that his wife, as a priority vaccination target, could not refuse the vaccine.