Jeong Eun-kyung "Today's vaccination rate 70%... Second dose completion is very important for COVID-19 prevention"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Seo So-jeong] "As the Delta variant spreads worldwide, the risk of infection has increased, making it very important to complete the second dose for COVID-19 prevention. Please make sure to receive the second dose on your scheduled vaccination date."

Jung Eun-kyung, head of the COVID-19 Vaccination Response Promotion Team (Director of the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency), visited Hana Hospital in Cheongju, a designated vaccination medical institution, on the 17th to check the vaccination status ahead of reaching 36 million (70%) first-dose vaccinations nationwide, and made this appeal.

Director Jung said, "It is expected that the number of first-dose COVID-19 vaccinations in Korea will exceed 36 million today," and expressed gratitude to the public and medical staff who have actively participated in the vaccination so far.

According to the response team, as of midnight on the 17th, 35,414,516 people have received the first dose, accounting for 69.0% of the total population, and among them, 21,489,009 people (41.8%) have completed their vaccinations.

On this day, Director Jung visited the pre-examination room, vaccination room, and adverse reaction observation area of the designated medical institution to inspect the vaccination situation on site and held a meeting with medical staff.

Park Hyun-ok, team leader of the Infection Control Office at Hana Hospital, said, "Starting today, leftover vaccines for the second dose have been released, so we are receiving many calls," and added, "There is a sufficient supply of leftover vaccines, so we hope many people will participate in vaccination."

Director Jung, who focused on checking the vaccine aliquoting area and vaccine storage locations, said, "Thank you for your hard work in the aliquoting process," and "Although some medical institutions have experienced misadministration and vaccine type changes causing public anxiety, after visiting the site today, I evaluated that the vaccination is being conducted safely."

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Director Jung also visited the temporary screening clinic installed at Osong Station to check the response situation during the holiday period. He expressed gratitude to the medical staff and on-site workers who are working hard for rapid testing and early detection of confirmed cases despite not being able to spend the Chuseok holiday with their families.

Director Jung said, "Due to the large-scale movement during the Chuseok holiday, there is a very high risk that the increasing trend of COVID-19 in the metropolitan area will spread through meetings with family, relatives, and acquaintances in hometowns," and expressed concern that "especially the Delta variant virus has very high transmissibility even two days before symptom onset while asymptomatic."

He emphasized the importance of getting tested before visiting hometowns and keeping meetings to a minimum number of people for a short time. Director Jung said, "Always wear a mask and ventilate frequently," and added, "The quarantine authorities will do their best 24 hours a day in operating screening clinics, testing, and quarantine measures."

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