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| Education Minister Yoo Eun-hae speaks at a press conference at the government complex in Sejong, Tuesday. Yonhap |
By Bahk Eun-ji
The vaccination rate for 12 to 17-year-olds has been slowing down during the winter vacation, as the government's COVID-19 vaccine pass system for those who use educational facilities such as private academies and libraries has been suspended. According to the Ministry of Education, 1.84 million out of 2.8 million teens aged 12 to 17 have completed their second dose of the vaccine as of Tuesday.
The percentage of adolescents aged 18 or order who have received their second COVID-19 vaccine dose is around 66.5 percent. Among teens aged between 16 and 18 years old, 80.3 percent have received both doses, while 55.8 percent of children aged between 13 and 15 have completed their second dose. The percentage of those aged between 12 and 17 who have received their first dose of the vaccine is 78.8 percent.
Until the end of last year, the vaccination rate for youth aged 12 to 17 years old had been increasing from 0.8 to 1.6 percentage points per day on average, but the increasing trend slowed down after the court suspended the vaccine pass at educational facilities on Jan. 5. The rate increased by only 0.3 percentage points on Jan. 6, and only 0.2 percentage points on both Jan. 13 and Jan. 14.
In this regard, the education ministry said that the inoculation rate for the age group has been falling after the start of the winter vacation.
"We plan to continue to promote the vaccination of the age group, by emphasizing the fact that vaccination is the answer to flattening the virus curve amid the prevalence of the highly contagious Omicron variant," Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Education Yoo Eun-hae said, reiterating the importance of vaccination for children in order to resume in-person classes fully in the coming spring semester.
"The ministry will promptly promote support measures so that students can recover their health and receive greater protection from concerns over possible side effects after vaccination," Yoo said.
As part of the effort to increase the vaccination rate, the ministry said that it plans to provide assistance for medical expenses amounting up to 5 million won ($4,200), to students who show side effects after getting vaccinated.
The targets of the medical treatment subsidy are students under 18 who show serious side effects within 90 days of their inoculations, regardless of a confirmed causal relationship with the COVID-19 vaccine. The ministry will offer the subsidy from next month and until May 2023.
Regardless of the type of symptoms, students can apply for the support if their medical expenses amount to more than 300,000 won.
The decision came after the ministry decided to expand the vaccine pass system to include 12- to 18-year-olds in March, despite the Jan. 5 court ruling.
The ministry plans to withdraw the vaccine pass system for educational facilities, but implement it immediately if the appeal court recognizes the need of the government's plan for expansion of the system to include the age group.
