Workers reluctant to receive booster shot without vaccine leave

By Bahk Eun-ji

Receiving a booster shot to defend against COVID-19 has become a necessity rather than an option as the government has made the vaccine pass system mandatory in order to access multiuse facilities within a six month expiration date window.

However, many office workers are complaining about the additional dose because most companies are now not providing any vaccine leave, unlike during the first round two-shot vaccination drive.

Decisions such as this are not only seeing workers voicing their frustration but also are having the counterproductive effect of making them reluctant to get the third shot.

Kim Tae-yeon, a teacher at a private day care center in Seoul's Jungnang District, hasn't decided yet whether to get the booster shot.

The head of the day care center told the teachers that she can't give them vaccine leave for the booster shot, so teachers should receive the vaccine in the morning and then go to work.

“If I get a shot on Friday morning, I can rest during the weekend, but I still have to work on Friday afternoon, so I don't think I'll be able to go get a booster shot this time. If I get it on Saturday, I'm worried that I may still feel unwell from side effects until Monday,” Kim said.

“I was sick for a few days when I received the first and second doses of the vaccine, so I can't decide when to receive it at the moment.”

Park Hyo-joon, 37, who works for an architectural design company, said, “When I received the first and second doses, we were able to take vaccine leave until the next day, but the human resources team at my company recently announced that we should use our annual paid leave for the booster shot.”

Park said he had no choice but to postpone his schedule for the booster shot to next year because he already used all of his annual leave.

“The interval between the vaccinations has been shortened to three months, but it is practically impossible even if we want to get vaccinated quickly according to the government's policy,” he said.

Small- and medium-sized companies say that they are unable to give vaccine leave even if they want to.

Often, due to a small workforce, it is difficult for small companies to find substitute workers when someone takes time off.

“Large companies have various departments specializing in just one key role and have many employees, but in small- and medium-sized enterprises, one employee often takes charge of multiple tasks/roles,” said an official of the Korea Federation of SMEs.

“When one person is on leave, it is difficult for their colleagues to cope with everything, so it is difficult for business owners to easily offer the leave,” he said.

In response, an official of the Korea Federation of Micro Enterprise said, “We agree to a degree with the criticism that the government has placed a burden on small businesses and individuals by making vaccine leave a recommendation rather than an obligation.

“In a situation where we may have to get the fourth and fifth doses of the vaccine, government-level support is highly needed,” he said.