South Korea is considering making unvaccinated citizens partially cover costs of their COVID-19 treatment, South Korean news agency Newsis reported on Saturday, citing a government source.
The initiative aims to increase the country's vaccination rate, which is currently at 79.4% for the entire population and 91.2% for adults. The recent spike in case, however, has convinced the authorities that it is not enough.
According to the source, the government will consider a corresponding bill as well as the people's reaction. After collecting the opinions, the parliament in December could edit the bill about the government's payments for coronavirus disease treatment.
Under the law on the prevention of infectious diseases, the South Korean government covers all the expenses related to COVID-19 treatment, which is about 10 million won (about $8.3 million) per person on average.
South Korea currently registers some 3,000 to 4,000 COVID-19 cases per day and reached its daily record of 4,116 earlier in the week.
