"Must Make a Conscience Declaration" Controversy Over 'Threats' Toward Nurse Vaccinated by President Moon

Police Launch Investigation into False Claims of 'Moon AZ Vaccine Swap'

President Moon Jae-in is receiving the AstraZeneca (AZ) COVID-19 vaccine at the Jongno-gu Public Health Center in Seoul on the morning of the 23rd. [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Heo Midam] Allegations have been raised that President Moon Jae-in swapped syringes during his AstraZeneca (AZ) vaccine inoculation video. In particular, the nurse from the Jongno District Office in Seoul who directly administered the COVID-19 vaccine to President Moon reportedly had her personal information disclosed on the 24th and was threatened by some groups to "make a conscience declaration." The police have launched a preliminary investigation into false posts related to President Moon's COVID-19 vaccination.

Earlier, suspicions about a 'syringe swap' involving the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine that President Moon received surfaced mainly on online communities. One netizen claimed on an online community the day before, "The syringe with the cap open was used to draw the vaccine, then after going behind the partition, a syringe with the cap closed appeared." This post spread through social networking services (SNS) and other channels.

In response, some groups and netizens reportedly threatened the nurse who directly vaccinated President Moon with statements such as "You must make a conscience declaration" and "If you don't speak properly, you won't be left alone." It is also known that this nurse's personal information was disclosed on online communities.

Earlier, President Moon and his spouse completed their first dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine at 9 a.m. at the Jongno District Public Health Center in Seoul. In the video filmed at the scene, the nurse is seen holding a syringe, extracting the vaccine from the AstraZeneca vial, then holding the syringe without the cap and going behind the partition before coming out again to administer the vaccine to the president.

The controversial part is that the syringe had the cap put back on. The nurse opened the syringe cap to extract the vaccine, but while behind the partition, the syringe was capped again, raising suspicions that the syringe was swapped behind the partition.

Regarding this, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency explained, "During vaccination, the needle of the syringe is capped again and then uncapped just before inoculation to prevent contamination of the needle during the preparation time after drawing the vaccine."

Meanwhile, the police have started a preliminary investigation into false posts related to President Moon's COVID-19 vaccination.

According to the National Police Agency on the 24th, the COVID-19 Vaccination Response Promotion Team requested an investigation regarding posts on online communities alleging that President Moon and his spouse swapped syringes during vaccination.

The Daegu Police Agency, designated as the responsible authority for this case, immediately began a preliminary investigation. A preliminary investigation is a stage before a formal investigation, and if criminal suspicion is found during this process, it will be escalated to a full investigation.

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