Gov't incentives for vaccine clinical trial volunteers raise eyebrows

Health Minister Kwon Deok-cheol, center, visits a clinical trial center for the development of COVID-19 vaccines and treatments at Korea University Anam Hospital, Seongbuk District, Seoul, Thursday. Yonhap

By Lee Hyo-jin

Questions are growing over how serious the government is about homegrown COVID-19 vaccine development, as it is offering a set of incentives too unappealing to encourage people to participate in the clinical trials.

According to the Ministry of Health and Welfare, clinical trial volunteers will get discounted admissions to national parks and museums, including the National Science Museum, National Institute of Ecology, Sejong National Arboretum and several state-run theaters. They will also receive four volunteer hours for their participation in a clinical trial.

The participants will also be granted with “vaccination leave” from work, while their health condition will be constantly monitored by doctors. In the case of possible side effects, they will receive compensation from the government.

However, many people are questioning whether such incentives are sufficient enough to encourage people to participate in the clinical trials and receive vaccines that are still under development, instead of vaccines that have already been approved.

They suggested that discounted tickets to national parks and museums are not sufficiently attractive, as regular tickets are priced at only around 5,000 won ($4) anyway.

One internet user wrote, “I don't understand who would need 'volunteer hours,' other than high school or university students. The government should really come up with suitable, more substantial rewards for volunteers doing this kind of good deed for the country.”

Another wrote, “It seems inappropriate to provide discount tickets to museums and parks, when people are being encouraged to refrain from outdoor activities amid the pandemic.”

President Moon Jae-in said during his Liberation Day speech, last Sunday, that the government will help domestic companies develop their own COVID-19 vaccines by the first half of next year.