President Moon: "We Will Aim for a Chuseok Without Masks... Guaranteeing Citizens' Summer Vacation" (Comprehensive)

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Ji-eun] President Moon Jae-in announced that he will accelerate vaccination efforts with the goal of allowing families to remove masks and converse during Chuseok. He also pledged to do his best to ensure that citizens can enjoy their summer vacations.

On the afternoon of the 7th, President Moon chaired the 3rd Special Quarantine Inspection Meeting at the Cheong Wa Dae Yeomin 1 Building and said, "We will do our utmost to restore a peaceful daily life to the people exhausted by COVID-19 as soon as possible."

President Moon stated, "The government's goal is to allow people to spend the upcoming summer vacation more comfortably and to enable at least family members to remove masks and talk during this year's Chuseok," adding, "We will do our best to ensure that quarantine and safety measures are thorough while fully compensating for citizens' use of their vacations."

He appealed for cooperation, saying, "We will implement meticulous and diverse measures such as minimizing congestion at vacation spots through services utilizing IT and big data technologies, and managing accommodations, sports, museums, and performance venues. We hope companies will actively cooperate with the government's recommendation to disperse vacation periods as much as possible, and we ask citizens not to forget to comply with quarantine rules even for a moment."

At the meeting, Minister Hwang Hee of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism also attended to discuss comfortable and safe summer vacation measures along with quarantine-related ministries.

President Moon projected that 14 million people will complete their first vaccination by the end of this month, and 36 million people will complete their first vaccination by the third quarter. He said, "Although there were some concerns and distrust about vaccination, the vaccination rate has risen sharply and surpassed the global average last week. Including the 1.01 million doses of the Janssen vaccine secured through the U.S. visit, it will be possible to vaccinate more than 14 million people in the first half of the year, and starting with those in their 50s in the third quarter, we will complete the first vaccination for 36 million people, which is 70% of the population."

He added, "Our country can become a global model in vaccination as well," and said, "If we leverage the strengths we have shown in becoming a model country in quarantine, following the successful introduction of K-quarantine, we will achieve success in vaccination as well, which will be a source of national pride and contribute to the world."

He also stated that efforts will be made to secure additional vaccine supplies and vaccine sovereignty. President Moon said, "In response to the repeatedly mutating coronavirus, countries overseas are preparing vaccines for next year and beyond. We will also conclude contracts for next year's vaccine doses as soon as possible."

He added, "We will definitely secure vaccine sovereignty," and said, "Starting from the third quarter, we will increase support for domestic vaccine development by pre-purchasing highly promising products expected to enter clinical phase 3."

President Moon said, "During the U.S. visit, a domestic company signed a consignment production contract with Moderna, making our country one of the rare countries in the world producing four types of COVID-19 vaccines," and added, "We will fully support maximizing domestic vaccine production capabilities by actively implementing follow-up measures for the Korea-U.S. vaccine partnership."

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