[WORD_ON_THE_WEB] 'Think about the risk you’ll pose to people around you'

The vaccination rate for booster shots is dropping significantly even as the number of daily cases topped 300,000 on March 9 and 10.

Data shows that 407,411 people received a booster shot in the first nine days of March, a 54.8 percent decline from the 902,253 people in the nine days that preceded that. It seems likely that the decision to halt the vaccine pass system has taken a toll.

Park Hyang, director of antivirus measures at the Central Disaster Management Headquarters, commented that for the people who received the booster shot, the risk posed by the Omicron variant is similar to that of the seasonal flu.

Park emphasized the need for the elderly to get booster shots, presenting data that shows that for people aged over 60, the death rate for vaccinated people is 0.52 percent compared to 5.53 percent for unvaccinated people.

#untrustworthy_vaccine
“From what I’ve seen, people got infected whether they got vaccinated or not. Is the vaccine really effective?”
“A lot of folks are avoiding the vaccine because they don’t believe its effectiveness. Tons of people still got infected despite getting the booster shot.”

#necessary_precaution
“The booster shot is the only way to prevent Covid-19. Get vaccinated to stop the disease from developing into a serious case.”
“Getting vaccinated doesn’t mean you never get infected, it means you are less ill and less likely to die when you do get infected. Whether you get the booster shot or not, it’s up to you to decide. But before deciding, think about the risk you’ll pose to the people around you by not getting the shot.”

BY LEE SI-YEOUNG, YOO JI-WOO [yoo.jiwoo@joongang.co.kr]