Government to Announce Comprehensive Measures Against COVID-19 Next Monday: Discussions on Expanding the Vaccine Pass Underway

[경향신문]

Kwon Deok-cheol (minister of health and welfare), first assistant director at the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasure Headquarters, makes a statement during a meeting on the response to COVID-19 at the government office in Sejong-si on the morning of November 26. Yonhap News

The government will announce comprehensive measures for stronger disease control in response to the deteriorating outbreak of COVID-19 on November 29.

Kwon Deok-cheol (minister of health and welfare), the first assistant director of the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasure Headquarters, made an opening statement at a Headquarters meeting held at the government office in Sejong on November 26 and said, “Yesterday, we held a meeting to discuss the nation’s policy for a return to normal life and listened to the opinions of the public and experts and are currently discussing the issue with other ministries to announce comprehensive government measures in response to COVID-19.” He also said, “We will review the issue thoroughly and announce the details of the measures next Monday.” Initially, the government had planned to announce the measures this day, but postponed the announcement after confirming conflicting views between businesses and relevant ministries on the level of distancing measures, including the expansion of the vaccine pass.

Kwon said, “We are facing the biggest challenge in our war against COVID-19,” and further elaborated, “We are confirming over 3,000 new cases a day, and due to the spread among older adults, the number of patients in critical condition and the number of deaths are quickly rising, pushing the availability of ICU hospital beds in the Seoul metropolitan area to its limit.”

The health minister also said, “By today, 79.4% of all citizens have received the basic two doses of the vaccine, yet 64% of the new cases are vaccine breakthrough infections. In particular, 85% of all patients ages sixty and older were breakthrough cases.” He explained, “Breakthrough cases remain over 40% even among cases transmitted in the local community, not to mention in care facilities. This means that we need to urgently provide booster shots to people ages sixty and older.” Kwon asked teenagers ages 12 to 17 to get vaccinated saying, “In the case of minors, we are confirming a daily average of 530 cases. Cases of the virus in this age group is increasing at a faster rate than among adults.”

Kwon also said, “Last week, the government shortened the time period for booster shots to four months from the prior vaccine shot for older adults ages sixty and older, patients and staff at care hospitals and facilities, and medical staff.” According to the health minister, relevant ministries are carefully discussing the expansion of the so-called vaccine pass, including the vaccine certificate and voice verification.

Kwon explained that the nation’s success in stopping the increase of critical patients and in saving the medical system from collapsing would be determined by how fast we administer booster shots to the elderly. He added, “Although booster shots are additional doses, we think of it as a necessary basic dose,” and asked citizens to get the shots.