Private Gathering Limit in Seoul Metropolitan Area Up to 6 People
Vaccine Pass Also Applies to Restaurants, Cafes, Academies, and Cinemas
From February Next Year, Vaccine Pass Required for Ages 12 and Up
On Criticism of Mandatory Vaccination for Youth, "Vaccination Benefits Are Greater"
On the morning of the 3rd, citizens visiting the COVID-19 screening clinic at Songpa-gu Public Health Center in Seoul are waiting for their turn for testing. [Image source=Yonhap News]
[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Chun-hee] As the daily new COVID-19 cases have exceeded 5,000 for three consecutive days and the Omicron variant has been detected, posing a crisis to quarantine measures, the government has announced a high-intensity plan to temporarily halt the 'gradual return to normal life (With Corona)'.
The limit on private gatherings in the metropolitan area has been reduced to a maximum of 6 people, and unvaccinated individuals are not allowed to use restaurants or cafes in groups of two or more. The application of the vaccination certificate and negative test confirmation system (quarantine pass) has been expanded to multi-use facilities such as movie theaters and academies, and from February next year, the age exemption for the quarantine pass will be lowered to 11 years old and under. The quarantine authorities expect the effects of these measures to appear within 1 to 2 weeks.
Son Young-rae, head of the Social Strategy Division at the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasure Headquarters, said at the regular COVID-19 briefing on the morning of the 3rd that the effects of this special quarantine reinforcement measure will "appear about 1 to 2 weeks later," and "the effects will come out as additional vaccinations and other measures synergize together."
He added, "In fact, more important than these social response measures is how quickly additional vaccinations for the elderly and vaccinations for the unvaccinated accelerate," and "While the government is doing its best to proceed swiftly, it is important to slow the increase in the spread through social responses and stabilize the medical system in a manageable situation until sufficient effects are achieved."
Regarding the expansion of quarantine pass application to facilities such as academies and lowering the age for quarantine pass application to 12 years old from February next year, Son responded to criticism calling it a 'de facto vaccination mandate' by saying, "Currently, the epidemic itself is increasing as adolescents account for about 20% of the total cases," and "Once the spread begins within a group, the epidemic develops very rapidly," emphasizing that this measure was taken considering the seriousness of the situation. Additionally, he noted that community spread is increasing and that new variants like Omicron could raise the risk to adolescent health.
Accordingly, he stated, "We judged it necessary to expand the quarantine pass target to defend against group infections among adolescents and to raise herd immunity," and emphasized, "Above all, to avoid disruptions to school and studies, it is necessary to minimize infections through external facilities used by adolescents."
Son also addressed concerns about side effects such as myocarditis and pericarditis from messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccine administration, saying, "From a medical perspective, the net benefit still favors getting vaccinated." He expressed concern, saying, "The risk of infection is becoming very high," and "Once infection spreads within the population, asymptomatic infections are common among children and adolescents, which inevitably leads to significant spread." In addition to these points, he stressed, "Considering the overall inconvenience in studies and daily life caused by being a patient and undergoing isolation treatment or being quarantined due to friends or contacts being patients, the overall benefit of vaccination is becoming increasingly greater and clearer."
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