48% of wage workers in South Korea willing to be vaccinated

Out of 1,103 wage workers surveyed nationwide by the the College of Medicine of the Catholic University of Korea, 48.2% said they were willing to get the coronavirus vaccine. 

A large proportion of respondents are still undecided on whether or not to get vaccinated. Out of this group, 33.1% of the respondents said they would make their decision after assessing the potential side effects of the vaccine, while another 12.5% said they were unsure about getting the vaccine. 

About 6.3% said they do not want to get vaccinated. These results came as South Korea is slowly ramping up its nationwide vaccination programme. 

By age groups, 68.1% of the respondents over the age of 50 were willing to get vaccinated. Those under the age of 29 who said they would decide whether or not to get vaccinated after observing reactions to the vaccine formed more than half the respondents at 52.4%. 

READ: 1 million pandemic-displaced persons still jobless in South Korea

The study also showed that 49.3% of employers offered paid leave for those forced to miss work due to virus infections or quarantine, while 50.7% of employees took unpaid or annual leave. 

About 42% of employers offered paid leave for those who missed work with typical COVID-19 symptoms. The remaining 58% took unpaid or annual leave, according to The Korea Bizwire.