President Moon: "COVID-19 vaccines to be administered in Feb-Mar next year... Securing extra doses despite financial burden"

Presiding over the 'COVID-19 Metropolitan Area Quarantine Situation Emergency Inspection Meeting'... President Moon says "The end of the long tunnel is in sight"

President Moon Jae-in [Photo by Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Son Sun-hee] On the 9th, President Moon Jae-in said, "The government has secured 44 million doses of vaccines, and by February to March next year, the initial supply will arrive, allowing vaccinations to begin," adding, "Finally, the end of the long tunnel with vaccines and treatments is in sight."

That afternoon, President Moon presided over an "Emergency Inspection of COVID-19 Metropolitan Area Quarantine Situation" at the Blue House National Crisis Management Center, stating, "This is a sufficient amount for our people's herd immunity." He also said, "Please continue efforts to secure additional vaccine supplies to have a surplus," and added, "Even if there is an additional financial burden, please prioritize the safety and lives of the people."

However, he noted, "Since the vaccine was developed very urgently, unexpected situations may arise, so it is still too early to be complacent," and said, "Vaccinations must be sufficiently confirmed for safety."

President Moon emphasized, "Until vaccines arrive in our country, many vaccination cases will accumulate abroad," and said, "Please monitor their effectiveness and side effects thoroughly and prepare vaccination plans in advance so that vaccinations can begin promptly once vaccines arrive in Korea." In particular, he reiterated, "There are differences in vaccine types, prices, and introduction timings," and urged, "Please establish vaccination plans so that as many citizens as possible can receive vaccines free of charge or at low cost fairly according to priority."

Regarding the domestic development of treatments, he added that, as previously announced, results are expected "as early as the end of this year or at the latest early next year."

President Moon said, "Although the end of the tunnel is clearly in sight, the number of daily confirmed cases announced today was 686, the highest since the end of February and the second highest ever," and urged, "To prevent this number from increasing further and to calm the situation without raising social distancing levels, the government and especially metropolitan local governments must unite and make every effort."

To this end, he said, "It is most important to maximize the speed of the three-step process: 'epidemiological investigation → diagnostic testing → isolation or treatment,'" and added, "In addition to the planned deployment of military, police, and public officials to strengthen epidemiological investigation capabilities, please also consider expanding the deployment of public health doctors."

President Moon reiterated, "The government will concentrate all capabilities in a short period together with local governments to quickly calm the spread of COVID-19," and said, "The end of the long tunnel of COVID-19 is not far away."

The meeting was urgently convened as the situation worsened, with daily new COVID-19 cases approaching 700. Attending via video were metropolitan local government heads including Seo Jeong-hyeop, Acting Mayor of Seoul; Lee Jae-myung, Governor of Gyeonggi Province; and Park Nam-chun, Mayor of Incheon, as well as Seo Wook, Minister of National Defense; Kim Chang-ryong, Commissioner of the National Police Agency; Jung Eun-kyung, Director of the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency; and Kim Hee-gyeom, Head of the Disaster and Safety Management Headquarters, who reported on the current situation and quarantine measures. Also present were Park Neung-hoo, Minister of Health and Welfare; Jeong Ki-hyun, Director of the National Medical Center; and from the Blue House, Chief Secretary to the President Noh Young-min and Director of National Security Office Suh Hoon.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.