People Saying There's No Need to Rush Vaccine Purchases... Seomin: "Moon Has Mastered Recognizing Talent"

On the 19th, at the Korea Press Center in Seoul, Ki Moran, Chair of the COVID-19 Response Committee of the Korean Society of Preventive Medicine, is presenting at the "Emergency Symposium on Coronavirus Disease-19 Response."
[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Seoyoung Kwon] Professor Seomin from Dankook University College of Medicine voiced criticism regarding Professor Ki Moran of the National Cancer Center being appointed as the Blue House's Quarantine Planning Officer.

Professor Seo pointed out today (17th), "Ki Moran previously said things like 'Our country has a low number of confirmed cases, so there is no need to rush to purchase vaccines,' and 'Various vaccines will be available by March or April, so we can compare and buy then.'

He sarcastically added, "President Moon, who is skilled at recognizing talent, appointed Ki Moran, a global vaccine expert, as the Quarantine Planning Officer." This expresses displeasure at appointing someone who failed to foresee the difficulties in securing Pfizer and Moderna vaccines due to some side effects of the AstraZeneca (AZ) vaccine and the U.S. government's additional vaccination policies as the Blue House's Quarantine Planning Officer.

This criticism appears to be directed at statements made by Officer Ki during an appearance on TBS Traffic Broadcasting's 'Kim Eo-jun's News Factory' on November 20 last year. At that time, Officer Ki explained in response to demands to quickly secure the Pfizer vaccine, "There are about 10 candidates currently undergoing Phase 3 clinical trials (for COVID-19 vaccines)."

He also continued with remarks along the lines of, "Considering the level of Korean patient cases, (vaccine supply) is not that urgent," and "Pfizer and Moderna are more expensive than AstraZeneca, which is being contract-manufactured in our country, so there is no need to rush (vaccine purchases)."