South Korea's President Moon Criticized for COVID-19 Vaccine Plan
2020-12-25
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1South Korean President Moon Jae-in has been facing growing public pressure about his plans to get vaccines for COVID-19.
2The country is struggling to contain a third wave of the pandemic, reporting high numbers of daily cases.
3Media in the country has criticized the government's plans for the newly developed COVID-19 vaccines.
4They think the government should move more urgently and depend less on vaccines made in South Korea.
5Those would take more time than buying them from other countries.
6A public opinion study by research company Realmeter found that six in 10 South Koreans believe urgency, not safety, should be the biggest concern when it comes to COVID-19 vaccines.
7They think vaccinations should begin as soon as possible given the big increase in new cases.
8This week, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) reported more than 1000 cases each day between Sunday and Tuesday.
9That brought the national total to 52,550, with more than 739 deaths.
10Moon's office said Tuesday that a public vaccination program would "not begin too late."
11Before, the government had said that vaccinations could start as early as February.
12Health officials said they are worried about the public seeing the vaccination program as a world-wide competition.
13Instead, they point to the importance of confirming the safety of the shots.
14Son Young-rae is a senior official at the health ministry.
15He said the United States and the United Kingdom are suffering much higher cases and death rates.
16Other than the vaccines, they have no good ways to fight the virus, he told reporters.
17For that reason, he said, South Korea should not look to them as models.
18"Considering the process of safety checks, we believe there is no reason for us to be the world's first or second country to receive the vaccines," Son said.
19The first doses of COVID-19 vaccines for U.S. military members working in South Korea were expected to arrive as early as Thursday, a person who knows the plan told Reuters.
20About 28,500 U.S. troops are stationed in South Korea.
21The U.S. Forces Korea (USFK) said it will begin to give the vaccines and that the first shots would be limited to health care workers and emergency workers.
22"Over the next few days, USFK will begin to receive and administer the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine to combat the COVID-19 virus to further protect the force and our community," the USFK said in a statement.
23South Korea's aggressive tracing and testing early in the pandemic had made the country a success story.
24The recent increase in cases has surprised people working to contain the virus.
25Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun said on Wednesday that, with the help of private hospitals, authorities have identified around 8,000 of a desired 10,000 additional hospital beds for COVID-19 patients.
26Seoul and its surrounding areas have banned gatherings of more than four people until January 3.
27Both restaurant owners and customers may have to pay a fine up to 3 million won ($2,700) for not following the order.
28Trying to stop the spread during the New Year holidays, authorities have also shut down all winter resorts and tourist spots.
29I'm Jill Robbins.
1South Korean President Moon Jae-in has been facing growing public pressure about his plans to get vaccines for COVID-19. The country is struggling to contain a third wave of the pandemic, reporting high numbers of daily cases. 2Media in the country has criticized the government's plans for the newly developed COVID-19 vaccines. They think the government should move more urgently and depend less on vaccines made in South Korea. Those would take more time than buying them from other countries. 3Safety or urgency? 4A public opinion study by research company Realmeter found that six in 10 South Koreans believe urgency, not safety, should be the biggest concern when it comes to COVID-19 vaccines. They think vaccinations should begin as soon as possible given the big increase in new cases. 5This week, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) reported more than 1000 cases each day between Sunday and Tuesday. That brought the national total to 52,550, with more than 739 deaths. 6Moon's office said Tuesday that a public vaccination program would "not begin too late." Before, the government had said that vaccinations could start as early as February. 7Race to vaccinate 8Health officials said they are worried about the public seeing the vaccination program as a world-wide competition. Instead, they point to the importance of confirming the safety of the shots. 9Son Young-rae is a senior official at the health ministry. He said the United States and the United Kingdom are suffering much higher cases and death rates. Other than the vaccines, they have no good ways to fight the virus, he told reporters. For that reason, he said, South Korea should not look to them as models. 10"Considering the process of safety checks, we believe there is no reason for us to be the world's first or second country to receive the vaccines," Son said. 11U.S. Forces in Korea to get vaccination 12The first doses of COVID-19 vaccines for U.S. military members working in South Korea were expected to arrive as early as Thursday, a person who knows the plan told Reuters. 13About 28,500 U.S. troops are stationed in South Korea. 14The U.S. Forces Korea (USFK) said it will begin to give the vaccines and that the first shots would be limited to health care workers and emergency workers. 15"Over the next few days, USFK will begin to receive and administer the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine to combat the COVID-19 virus to further protect the force and our community," the USFK said in a statement. 16Early success in fighting COVID-19 17South Korea's aggressive tracing and testing early in the pandemic had made the country a success story. The recent increase in cases has surprised people working to contain the virus. 18Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun said on Wednesday that, with the help of private hospitals, authorities have identified around 8,000 of a desired 10,000 additional hospital beds for COVID-19 patients. 19Seoul and its surrounding areas have banned gatherings of more than four people until January 3. Both restaurant owners and customers may have to pay a fine up to 3 million won ($2,700) for not following the order. 20Trying to stop the spread during the New Year holidays, authorities have also shut down all winter resorts and tourist spots. 21I'm Jill Robbins. 22Sangmi Cha reported on this story for Reuters. Jill Robbins adapted it for Learning English. Mario Ritter, Jr. was the editor. 23_____________________________________________ 24Words in This Story 25dose -n. an amount of a medicine that is needed to fight disease 26combat - v. fight against 27tracing -v. to find someone by collecting and studying evidence 28customer - n. someone who buys goods or services from a business 29tourist -n. a person who travels for pleasure and not for work 30How is your country dealing with COVID-19 vaccines? We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments Section.