Senior Health Ministry official Yoon Tae-Ho said that South Korea will provide exemptions to the mandatory quarantine protocols for those who have already received vaccine shots.
South Korea is encouraging its population to take vaccine shots against COVID-19. This has become apparent when a senior health ministry official told a briefing that the country will offer “exemptions” to their pandemic protocols.
Reuters reported that the briefing took place on Wednesday. The official, Yoon Tae-ho explained that the exemptions will only apply to those who have been “fully inoculated against COVID-19.”
Aside from being vaccinated, the individual should also have a negative COVID-19 test result. Moreover, they should not show any related symptoms.
About the exemption
The lifting of the mandatory quarantine measures in South Korea will start on May 5. The ministry official noted that residents who have had the vaccines will no longer have to observe “two-week quarantine” following a direct contact with others.
The exemption will also apply to those who are returning home from overseer travel. However, South Koreans arriving from Brazil and South Africa will still have to follow the protocols despite previously receiving the vaccines.
As explained, coronavirus variants are “prevalent” in these regions. The same official, later on, added that residents who received their vaccine shots in foreign countries will also still have to observe the quarantine measures.
“Herd immunity” by November
To date, South Korea has vaccinated over four percent of its total population. The country also aims to vaccinate 12 million of its 52 million residents by June.
Despite the growing vaccine hesitancy, it has also reportedly set an ambitious goal to provide vaccine shots to 70 percent of its population by September. This then leads them to their timeline of having “herd immunity” two months later.
Latest COVID-19 updates in South Korea
South Korea is one of the few countries that have quickly flattened the curve. Even though it is one of the locations wherein COVID-19 was first detected, the nation made an immediate effective response to control, manage, and even eliminate the risks of the virus.
Vox said that it was a three-step protocol, which mainly involves testing, tracing, and isolating. While almost all countries are doing the same thing, the country’s timing was crucial, and they acted early. This then led them to have an effective system.
Later on Wednesday, South Korea reported 775 new cases and one death. The figures now bring the country to a total of 120,673 COVID-19 cases and 1,821 deaths.
Images (1) & (2) courtesy of Jernej Furman/Flickr