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According to the Ministry of Health and Welfare’s Central Disaster Management Headquarters, only Koreans and foreigners who were fully vaccinated in Korea can avoid quarantine as part of the government’s incentive scheme to raise the inoculation rate.
As for people who got vaccinated overseas, only those visiting Korea for humanitarian reasons like attending funerals of immediate family, visiting family residing in Korea and urgent temporary business purposes, can be issued quarantine exemption certificates, government officials said. This applies to both Koreans and non-Korean nationals.
As Koreans are more likely to have family here, it is mostly foreign residents who face inconveniences caused by the self-isolation rule, including a delayed return to work.
Not eligible for vaccine pass
The inconvenience doesn’t end with the 10-day quarantine.
For those inoculated overseas, a quarantine exemption certificate is required to apply for the government’s “vaccine pass system,” which started on Nov. 1.
People who are not granted the exemption certificate, cannot register their foreign vaccination records on the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency’s vaccination verification mobile app, COOV, or other authorized digital platforms.
The digitized vaccine passport allows fully vaccinated individuals access to multiuse facilities and places that are deemed at high risk of virus infections. This means foreigners whose inoculations aren’t accepted face restrictions in gyms, movie theaters and many other public places.
What started off as a strict requirement for quarantine exemption is now making the lives of many expats difficult, said a British woman who works and resides in Korea.
Non-Korean nationals were further frustrated when the health authority in October began allowing Korean nationals who were vaccinated overseas to register their vaccination records without submitting their quarantine exemption certificates.
Room for discrimination
While fully vaccinated non-Korean nationals have to endure self-isolation upon reentry and are left out of the vaccine pass system, despite residing and working here, Koreans with foreign nationalities are immune from this trouble. They are able to go sightseeing simply because they have immediate family living in the country, which has raised concerns over administrative discrimination against foreigners.
The KDCA official added that the government is aware of the problem and has plans to recognize overseas vaccination records. The official did not elaborate further.
By Choi Jae-hee (cjh@heraldcorp.com)
http://www.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20211126000525&np=1&mp=1
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