Bahk Eun-ji has been with The Korea Times since 2012, building a career across multiple desks. She began at the Business Desk, where she conducted in-depth interviews with key figures in Korea's corporate world. Later, she moved to the Politics & City Desk, focusing on education policy and social affairs. She later served as team leader of the digital content team, leading curation efforts on the newspaper’s homepage and reshaping print stories for social media audiences to enhance digital reach. Now back on the Politics Desk, she covers the National Assembly and the Ministry of National Defense, with a renewed focus on political developments.
Government's mask-free plan triggers concerns
Children wearing waterproof masks play at an outdoor swimming pool in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province, in this May 23 photo. Yonhap
By Bahk Eun-ji
By Bahk Eun-ji
Concerns are mounting over the government's plan to allow people receiving their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine to remove their masks outdoors starting in July, with experts and citizens calling it premature.
Last week, Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum announced the plan as part of the government's efforts to encourage people who may be reluctant to receive their COVID-19 shots.
Those who receive their first COVID-19 vaccine shot will no longer be required to wear masks outside and be exempt from the gathering ban of more than eight people among direct family members. Those vaccinated twice will be free from the gathering ban on five or more people.
However, some online users expressed concerns on internet communities.
“Many say the possibility of virus transmission outdoors is relatively low, but there are still many people without masks, with the country still being far from achieving herd immunity,” an online user said at a portal site.
“Amusement parks such as Lotte World and Seoul Land are also outdoors. I am afraid to think that the number of people who do not wear masks will increase in crowded outdoor places even though they are not vaccinated.”
In addition, there is no guarantee that the vaccine offers complete protection from the virus, as evidenced by a healthcare worker at a nursing facility who tested positive, Saturday, even after receiving her second vaccine dose.
“The public will be able to start seeing the tangible effects of vaccination probably in July, but the situation in the second half of the year could be much better if the quarantine measures are maintained for only a few weeks more rather than easing the distancing rule immediately,” said Jung Jae-hoon, a professor at Gachon University Gil Medical Center.