COVID-19 Vaccine Injury Medical Expense Support Increased from 30 Million to 50 Million Won

Disease Control Agency Raises Death Compensation from 50 Million to 100 Million Won

On the 18th, when the fourth COVID-19 vaccine dose and vaccination reservations began for those aged 50 and above, a citizen received a vaccine shot at the Jongno-gu Public Health Center in Seoul. Photo by Jinhyung Kang aymsdream@

The government will expand medical expense support for side effects recognized as causally related to the COVID-19 vaccine from the current 30 million KRW to 50 million KRW. Compensation for bereaved families of the deceased will also be increased from 50 million KRW to 100 million KRW.

On the 19th, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) announced the opening and operation of the "COVID-19 Vaccination Injury Compensation Support Center" to enhance convenience for citizens applying for compensation after COVID-19 vaccination.

In preparation for the resurgence of COVID-19 and to encourage the fourth vaccine dose, the center aims to operate a post-vaccination safety management system so that citizens can participate in vaccination without fear and with peace of mind. The Compensation Support Center will operate as a separate organization from the existing COVID-19 Vaccination Response Promotion Team and will be solely responsible for COVID-19 vaccination injury compensation support tasks.

Along with this, the KDCA raised the upper limit of medical expense support for diseases suspected to be related to the COVID-19 vaccine to 50 million KRW and increased the compensation amount for death to 100 million KRW. So far, 143 people have received medical expense support for suspected vaccine-related diseases, and 5 people have received compensation for death due to myocarditis, capillary leak syndrome, Guillain-Barr? syndrome, and others.

The Compensation Support Center will individually notify those suspected of having related diseases, and for those who have already received medical expense support or death compensation, the new amounts will be applied retroactively without requiring a separate additional application process, paying the remaining amount excluding the previously paid sum.

If a person dies within 42 days after COVID-19 vaccination and the cause of death remains "unknown" even after an autopsy, a consolation payment of 10 million KRW will be provided. To date, there have been 45 reported cases where the cause of death remained unknown after autopsy.

The opportunity to appeal the results of COVID-19 vaccination injury compensation reviews has also been expanded from once to twice. Appeals can be submitted to the relevant public health center within 90 days from the date of the compensation rejection decision, along with an appeal form and additional documents if necessary.

In addition to direct compensation tasks, the Compensation Support Center will provide psychological counseling support for applicants and others. Starting this month, psychological support will be provided to heal trauma experienced by those suffering psychological difficulties due to adverse reactions after COVID-19 vaccination and their families, and to support rapid recovery to daily life. Improvements to the information system are also underway to allow applicants to easily check the progress of their application procedures after applying for compensation.

Separately, the KDCA will continue research on the evidence for causal evaluation between COVID-19 vaccines and adverse reactions and expand research related to vaccine safety. A "COVID-19 Vaccine Safety Research Center" will be established at a medical science specialized institution to provide evidence on vaccine safety through analysis of domestic data and long- and short-term studies on COVID-19 vaccine safety, which will be utilized in establishing vaccination policies.