Daegu Mayor Kwon Young-jin's "Leading by Example AZ Vaccine Injection" Fails, He Complains "It's a Bit Confusing"

Ahead of the public vaccination schedule on the 8th, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency excludes targets the night before
… Mayor Kwon indirectly criticizes on SNS on the evening of the 7th, saying "Guidelines changed in 5 days"

The photo shows Daegu Mayor Kwon Young-jin participating in a vaccination training drill held at Daegu's first vaccination center, set up in the annex of Daegu Dongsan Hospital in Jung-gu, Daegu, on February 25. [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Park Dong-wook] Daegu Mayor Kwon Young-jin, who had promoted the "leading by example plan" several times in advance in line with the AstraZeneca (AZ) vaccine schedule for "COVID-19 first responders," found himself in an awkward position due to the sudden change in guidelines by the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA).

On the 7th, Mayor Kwon posted on his Facebook, saying, "I thought showing citizens me receiving the AZ vaccine, after my stomach cancer surgery (last November), might help a little in increasing safety and vaccination rates," and indirectly expressed dissatisfaction by adding, "Now, I think it would be the best way to alleviate public concerns to show the Prime Minister, related ministers, and provincial governors getting vaccinated."

Mayor Kwon expressed concern, saying, "Among local government heads, some have already been vaccinated according to previous guidelines, and some, like me and the acting mayor of Seoul, have publicly promised to get vaccinated next week. However, the guidelines suddenly changed within five days. The vaccination sites are somewhat confused."

Earlier, on the evening of the 7th, the KDCA sent an official letter to local governments notifying them that "members of the Regional Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters, including the head of the headquarters (local government heads), who do not perform on-site response duties, are excluded from the first vaccination target."

Regarding this, Mayor Kwon explained the KDCA's sudden change of stance, saying, "On the 3rd, we received an official letter from the KDCA stating that local government heads (heads of headquarters) and members of the Regional Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters were added as priority vaccination targets, and that they should be registered in the vaccination target system by 5 p.m. on the 4th and start vaccination from the 7th. We even received 300 doses of the vaccine on the 6th (the previous day)."

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