Only one in four people who reported side effects after receiving a COVID-19 vaccine have received compensation from the government, with victims complaining it is too difficult to prove causality, local media reported Thursday.
Since the government began its vaccination campaign in 2021, about 100,000 people have filed compensation claims for side effects. Of those, roughly 24,000 have been approved, the government data showed.
Among those who died following vaccination, only 1 percent of claims have been compensated.
Amid criticism that the criteria for compensation were too stringent, lawmakers passed a special law that will take effect next month. The law lowers the bar for compensation, stipulating that if there is a reasonable temporal link between vaccination and side effects, causality can be assumed.
Still, victims say it remains too difficult to prove causality due to vague guidelines.
“The assessment criteria for causality are too ambiguous. We are not doctors. How can we prove the damage when even experts cannot?” said Kim Doo-kyung, head of a group representing families of COVID-19 vaccine victims.
The government’s compensation budget for COVID-19 will rise from 1 billion won ($713,000) this year to 7 billion won next year.
shinjh@heraldcorp.com
