Ruling Party, Government, and Blue House Announce "Vaccinations for Medical Staff and Elderly to Begin in February Next Year" (Comprehensive)

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kang Nahum] The Democratic Party, the government, and the Blue House have decided to begin COVID-19 vaccination starting February next year.

On the 27th, the party, government, and Blue House held a high-level meeting at the National Assembly to discuss vaccine administration, COVID-19 damage support measures, and plans to secure treatment and quarantine facilities. Attending the meeting were senior officials including Lee Nak-yeon, leader of the Democratic Party, Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun, Presidential Chief of Staff Noh Young-min, and Floor Leader Kim Tae-nyeon.

Regarding the vaccine, Chief of Staff Noh stated, "We have already secured sufficient quantities to protect our people," adding, "Vaccinations will begin in February next year targeting medical personnel and the elderly."

He continued, "Countries around the world plan to start vaccinating the general public in the second quarter of next year," and said, "We will also begin vaccinating the general public around the same time."

He further explained, "The timing for achieving herd immunity will be similar to or even earlier than other countries," and added, "The government is making every effort to advance this timeline and is seeing results."

Prime Minister Chung also commented on the vaccine procurement timeline, saying, "It is difficult to specify an exact date as it heavily depends on each pharmaceutical company's production capacity, but we are conducting additional negotiations to ensure the earliest possible introduction."

Additionally, the party, government, and Blue House agreed to include support for small business owners and self-employed individuals' 'rent' in the emergency disaster relief funds to be disbursed in January next year. Regarding this, Leader Lee said, "To provide stronger support to citizens affected by COVID-19, we hope to include rent support in the disaster relief funds to be executed in January, separately from legislation, and implement it together," adding, "We will mobilize all available means."

Floor Leader Kim also appealed for rent reductions by landlords, stating, "Two million small business owners have seen their sales plummet due to gathering bans and restrictions, yet they still have to pay rent. Direct government support for rent is necessary."

Regarding the disaster relief budget, he said, "I believe that the current scale is insufficient for the snowballing damages. We request expanding the tailored emergency damage support fund beyond 3 trillion plus alpha (α)," urging the financial authorities to adopt bold fiscal policies.

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