Jeong Cheong-rae "Vaccinations Must Follow the Order Set by the Disease Control Agency"
Ha Tae-kyung "Politicians Should Lead to Alleviate Anxiety"
Jeong Cheong-rae, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, is questioning Park Baek-beom, Vice Minister of Education, at the Education Committee Petition Review Subcommittee held at the National Assembly in Yeouido, Seoul, on November 4 last year. Photo by Yonhap News
[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Young-eun] On the issue of COVID-19 AstraZeneca (AZ) vaccine administration, which sparked controversy in the political sphere over President Moon Jae-in's priority vaccination, Democratic Party lawmaker Jeong Cheong-rae and People Power Party lawmaker Ha Tae-kyung engaged in another dispute on the 23rd.
Jeong and Ha, who recently had a heated exchange on social media regarding President Moon's AZ vaccine administration, appeared on TBS Radio's 'Kim Eo-jun's News Factory' on the same day.
Jeong said, "Telling the president to get vaccinated first stirs anxiety that the vaccine might be untrustworthy, so I say we shouldn't do that," adding, "They say the AZ vaccine, whose safety has been proven, causes anxiety when people try to get it. Then what do they want the president to do? Should he sit down or stand up?"
Jeong continued, "I think the media is the problem," and said, "If it were during President Park Geun-hye's era, for example, if she said she would get vaccinated first, the media would write 'Self-sacrifice, trust the president and get vaccinated.' If she said she would get vaccinated later, they would write 'The president's beautiful concession, take care of the people's safety first.' That's probably how it would have been written."
He added, "When I said, 'Is the president a test subject?' the People Power Party responded with 'Are the people test subjects?' It's a typical headline grab," and said, "In my view, without all these controversies, we should just follow the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency's plan to vaccinate residents and staff under 65 in nursing homes and long-term care hospitals in order."
Ha Tae-kyung, a member of the People Power Party, is questioning at the National Defense Committee's audit held on October 8 last year at the Joint Chiefs of Staff in Yongsan-gu, Seoul. Photo by Yonhap News
In response, lawmaker Ha said, "My point is that politicians should take the lead in alleviating anxiety about the AZ vaccine," and rebutted, "Since the president has already mentioned on TV during a dialogue with the people that he could get vaccinated first if necessary, I believe there is a good chance he will step forward to get vaccinated first," adding, "The public would applaud the president volunteering to get vaccinated first."
Ha continued, "In any case, a leader's role is to alleviate the public's anxiety when it is high," and said, "Since President Moon has already responded that he would get vaccinated if necessary, repeating it once more would settle the matter."
Earlier, the controversy over the first vaccine recipient arose on the 19th when former People Power Party lawmaker Yoo Seung-min claimed on his Facebook that President Moon should be the first recipient of the AstraZeneca vaccine starting on the 26th.
In response, Jeong posted on his Facebook, "Is the head of state a test subject? This is a mockery and insult to the head of state," and later Ha criticized, "Jeong Cheong-rae, who only increased vaccine anxiety, ended up burdening the president while trying to curry favor," adding, "The people are not the president's gisaeng."
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