GOV’T STRESSES SAFETY OVER SPEED

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With COVID-19 vaccinations beginning in the United Kingdom, the United States and other countries, the South Korean government said Thursday that it has signed deals to purchase COVID-19 vaccines from Janssen and Pfizer. But health officials emphasized that it is more important to ensure vaccine safety than to get quick vaccination.

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A 90-year-old British woman was the first person in the world to receive the COVID-19 vaccine. Vaccinations in the United States soon followed. France and Germany are said to start their vaccination programs in the comingdays. The news of COVID-19 vaccinations in other countries made the Korean government the target of widespread criticism. Koreans have asked why the government failed to secure vaccine supplies more quickly. The government officials said that they were concerned over the perception that a race to buy safe vaccines has turned into a competition.

[Soundbite] SON YOUNG-RAE(CENTRAL DISASTER MANAGEMENT HEADQUARTERS) : "Health authorities are very concerned that there seems to be a social atmosphere promoting competition to get the world’s first vaccination."

Health authorities pointed out that the countries that started vaccinations had no other option than the vaccines to curb the spiking numbers of COVID-19 cases and deaths. The United States saw more than 310,000 deaths and roughly 240,000 average new cases per day. That means a person is infected every 0.4 seconds. The United Kingdom, with about 67,000 deaths so far, was forced to lock down London as the number of new cases soared past 30,000 per day and a mutant COVID-19 strain was found. The Korean government states that since vaccine development, which usually takes more than 10 years, was shortened to one year, they need to be wary of the vaccine’s possible side effects.

[Soundbite] SON YOUNG-RAE(CENTRAL DISASTER MANAGEMENT HEADQUARTERS) : "We should avoid a situation that requires us to get the world’s first vaccination. It’s fortunate that Korea has a chance to observe the issues stemming from the vaccines for a month or two."

The government stressed that starting vaccinations is important but it is more crucial to broaden the vaccination target population and to continue efforts in containing the disease until herd immunity is achieved.