Vaccinated people to be exempted from mandatory self-isolation in S. Korea

People who have been fully vaccinated against the novel coronavirus in South Korea are exempted from the mandatory 14-day isolation starting Wednesday when arriving here from overseas and when having close contact with virus patients.

The new rules will be applied only for those who have been fully inoculated in South Korea two weeks after receiving COVID-19 jabs, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA).

They will still need to receive COVID-19 tests and have no related symptoms to be exempted from the mandatory self-isolation, the authorities added.

As of April 21, a total of 65,097 had been fully inoculated in South Korea with a two-dose regimen of either the AstraZeneca or Pfizer vaccine.

The KDCA said arrivals from countries grappling with more infectious variant cases, including South Africa and Brazil, are excluded from the exemption.

As of Sunday, a total of nine countries — South Africa, Brazil, Malawi, Botswana, Mozambique, Namibia, Tanzania, Republic of Suriname and Paraguay — were exempted.

The KDCA earlier said it plans to come up with measures to verify vaccination certificates from overseas and apply them gradually to those vaccinated in other countries under the principle of reciprocity.