More Benefits for Fully Vaccinated People ahead of Chuseok: Disease Control Efforts in the Next Thirty Days Will Determine the Future of Life with COVID

[경향신문]

On the morning of August 5, a Sunday nearly two weeks before the Chuseok holiday, citizens visit their ancestral graves early concerned about possible restrictions due to COVID-19 and crowds during the Chuseok holiday at the Mangwol Metropolitan Cemetery in Buk-gu, Gwangju. Yonhap News

The nation will enter a test period to determine the possibility of life with COVID, the coexistence of our daily lives with the novel coronavirus, as the government eases restrictions on private gatherings for people who have been fully vaccinated with Chuseok approaching. The nation is taking a step towards a return to daily life along with the rising vaccination rate. The success or failure of disease control efforts in the next thirty days will determine the nation’s direction in future disease control measures.

The government extended the current distancing levels (level 4 in the greater Seoul area and level 3 in other areas) for four more weeks from September 6 until October 3, but at the same time expanded benefits in restrictions on private gatherings for people who have been fully vaccinated.

At restaurants, cafes and homes located in areas where level-4 distancing is enforced, up to six people can gather when a certain number of participants are fully vaccinated, and in level-3 areas, up to eight people can gather anywhere so long as some of the participants are fully vaccinated. In the week of September 17-23, which includes the Chuseok holiday, family gatherings of up to eight people are allowed at home regardless of the distancing level. The government also eased restrictions for visitations at care facilities and hospitals and for weddings and beginning September 6, more schools will begin in-person classes.

The latest changes were made mainly to ease the suffering of small business owners and the fatigue of citizens due to the fierce distancing that had lasted for a prolonged period of time. At the same time, it has an experimental nature, as a step toward life with COVID following the rising vaccination rate. The government will observe the disease control situation for a month and draw up a phased implementation plan to switch to a disease control system that can coexist with the novel coronavirus from October. The prerequisite is that at least 90% of elderly adults and 80% of all adults are fully vaccinated.

By the morning of September 5, more than 30 million people received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. This is 58.4% of the nation’s population, and 34.6% of the population were fully vaccinated. If we just look at adults ages 18 and older, 67.9% have received at least one vaccine shot, and 40.2% were fully vaccinated. Son Young-rae, director of social strategy at the Central Disaster Management Headquarters said in a press briefing, “Whether the latest adjustments to the distancing measures end up as a hasty easing of disease control measures or a step toward a more stable return to our daily lives will now depend on all our efforts.”

Some voiced concerns that the special distancing measures for the Chuseok holiday could be misunderstood as a sign that it’s okay to relax. Jung Jae-hun, a professor of preventive medicine at Gachon University medical school said, “The vaccination rate has increased significantly, and the stable management of the outbreak could be grounds for the trial (easing some restrictions),” but at the same time, he added, “Since disease control is greatly affected by social signs, the government should be careful in terms of what message it conveys.”

Many countries throughout the world have already begun their road toward a life with COVID backed by their high vaccination rate. A typical example is the United Kingdom, which declared July 19 as “freedom day” and lifted all regulations. In March, when the percentage of fully vaccinated citizens was only in the single digit range, the U.K. began phase one of the four-phase plan toward lifting lock down. When the vaccination rate exceeded 50%, the nation entered the final phase. However, the U.K. experiment is drawing mixed evaluations, as the nation still confirms over 30,000 COVID-19 cases and witnesses more than 100 deaths a day despite that 65% of its citizens are fully vaccinated.

Singapore, the first country in Asia to declare a life with COVID, entered the first stage of its four-stage easing of disease control measures on August 10, when nearly 70% of its citizens were fully vaccinated. The country allowed private gatherings of up to five people from the previous two and allowed cultural events of more than 500 people. However, people must still wear masks. Recently, over 80% of the citizens were fully vaccinated, so the country was ready to enter stage 2 of easing restrictions, but the number of daily COVID-19 cases soared past 200. One positive outcome from both the U.K. and Singapore is that due to the effects of the vaccine, the fatality rate has remained low.

The examples of these countries show that easing disease control measures gradually while quickly increasing the vaccination rate is important. Kim Yoon, a professor of health policy and management at the Seoul National University medical school said, “The most important thing in life with COVID is a blueprint including the ultimate goal and phased plans,” and stressed the need to establish specific plans.