S. Korea considers enforcing ‘Vaccine Pass’ for adolescents

Students and parents are becoming more wary of “enforced vaccination,” with the government considering introducing a mandatory vaccine pass for adolescents. 　

According to Dong-A Ilbo coverage on Sunday, the Ministry of Education recently submitted proposal to limit unvaccinated adolescents’ access to events with more than 100 participants and karaokes. The ministry advised that stronger measures would be required to limit access at karaokes where students frequent during winter vacation or after finals. 　

The subject target and application of the adolescent vaccine pass will be announced on November 29, and the Ministry of Education is planning to promote vaccination for children and adolescents, a shift from its previous position to leave vaccination at discretion. One of the main reasons to encourage vaccination is due to the government’s eased regulations for social distancing and the growth of confirmed cases after schools recently resumed full in-person classes. There is a sharp contrast with the number of confirmed cases among third grade high school students, who have been mostly vaccinated, with lower grade students with low vaccination rates. Hence the government is encouraging students to get vaccinated. 　

Parents are still concerned about vaccination for children, however. They are not fully assured about the safety of the vaccine. “I experienced fever and changes to my menstruation cycle after my second vaccination” said a parent of an elementary school student in Incheon. “I’m very concerned about vaccinating my daughter who has just started menstruation.”


Ye-Na Choi yena@donga.com