Vaccinated people subject to eased social distancing policy

Effective from June 1, any person that has been vaccinated against COVID-19 at least once will be exempt from social distancing regulations that limit family gathering to eight direct family members.

Starting from July, anyone who has received vaccines at least once will not be required to wear masks outdoors. Also, those who have been vaccinated twice can attend personal gatherings without being subject to group gathering restrictions. They will be exempt from group limitations of indoors and outdoors multiple purpose facilities. These benefits apply two weeks after their second dose, and relevant persons are required to present vaccine validation via mobile web or paper certificates. 　

The Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters announced on Wednesday such plans to restore normal daily lives for those who have been vaccinated. These measures will help restore daily lives of those who are fully vaccinate and encourage vaccine participation. 　

These measures raise public expectations of the possibility to go back to normal daily lives. However, some experts say that these plans may be effective in encouraging vaccine participation, but it is too early in terms of social distancing policy. With only 7.7% of the population being vaccinated at least once, the number of confirmed cases still unstable and the spread of variant virus, the situation might escalate to a dangerous state increasing the number of confirmed cases at the onset of vaccinations.

“According to studies in the UK, the first dose of AstraZeneca is only effective by 34% to prevent infection of the variant virus from India,” said Chun Eun-mi, a professor of respiratory medicine at the Ewha Hospital in Mokdong, Seoul. “It is still premature to ease social distancing measures.”


ksy@donga.com