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| People wait in long lines to go through COVID-19 testing at a makeshift testing site exclusively for foreign nationals in front of Geumcheon District Office in Seoul, March 21. Yonhap |
By Jun Ji-hye
Korea has decided to provide COVID-19 vaccines to undocumented foreigners as part of increased efforts to stem the spread of the contagious disease, health authorities said Tuesday.
"Unregistered migrants will be able to get vaccinated in the same manner that Korean nationals and other foreigners receive shots," a government official in charge of the country's vaccination program said.
The government had announced a decision earlier to provide vaccinations to foreign nationals staying in Korea for more than three months, but did not mention at the time whether people without visas, or those who overstayed their visas, would also be subject to the vaccination program.
The latest decision follows growing calls from health experts and human rights organizations to include undocumented foreigners in the vaccination program, since they have been cited as socially vulnerable in the pandemic era.
"Unregistered foreigners will be able to receive shots beginning this month, as the administration of vaccines to general residents aged 65 and older begins," the official said.
Although here illegally, they will not face any penalties such as deportation when being vaccinated. Unregistered foreigners do not face penalties when they go through COVID-19 testing. And if they test positive, they are able to receive treatment.
According to the ministry's data, about 2.01 million foreign nationals were staying in Korea as of February, and among them, some 390,000, or about 20 percent, did not have a valid visa status.
Health authorities, however, did not disclose how they will contact the undocumented foreigners about vaccinations.
