"Vaccination Rate Lowest in OECD", "Became Vaccine Beggars"
Criticism Over Vaccination Speed
Kim Woong, a member of the People Power Party, posted a photo of a banner of Go Min-jung, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, on Facebook. / Photo by Facebook capture
[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Juhyung] The People Power Party has criticized the government and ruling party for insufficient COVID-19 vaccination rates and distribution. Despite the president showing a busy appearance by having a video call with the CEO of the pharmaceutical company developing the vaccine, the actual amount of secured vaccines is woefully inadequate, and the vaccination speed is also slow. Regarding this, the People Power Party pointed out, saying, "Some people even suspect it was a 'show.'"
On the 18th, Bae Junyoung, spokesperson for the People Power Party, issued a statement saying, "The scenes of the UK and Israel successfully vaccinating and gradually returning to normal life seem like a dream to our people. They say a harsh government is scarier than a tiger, but an incompetent government is scarier than the Grim Reaper."
He continued, "President Moon Jae-in reassured the public with a video call with the Moderna CEO at the end of last year. Some people even suspect that it was a show," and criticized, "Currently, South Korea's COVID-19 vaccination rate is below 3%, ranking among the lowest in the OECD."
He added, "The prospect of herd immunity by November this year is remote, and it is predicted to take as long as six years," and pointed out, "Now even Gyeonggi Province Governor Lee Jae-myung has announced a separate vaccine procurement plan, saying he cannot trust the government."
On the same day, Park Dae-chul, a member of the same party, wrote on his Facebook, "K-quarantine is becoming increasingly absurd with unsafe and poor-quality vaccines, insufficient supply, syringes with foreign substances, and an ideology-driven quarantine planning officer," and criticized, "They held a video call show saying they would receive vaccines for 20 million people in the second quarter, but there has been no news."
He continued, "They are still talking about herd immunity in November, and not only are we vaccine beggars, but they are also inflicting secondary hope torture," and pointed out, "It's just an 'if not, then forget it' attitude. The public is tired of this 'anticlimactic show.'"
He urged, "The Ministry of Foreign Affairs held a video conference with 10 embassy chiefs for vaccine supply, but why doesn't the president have a video call with U.S. President Joe Biden, with whom he was so good at video calls?" and called for, "It is time for the president to personally engage in vaccine diplomacy. Immediately activate the Korea-U.S. presidential hotline and ask for leftover vaccines to be shared."
On the 15th, a resident is receiving the Pfizer vaccine at the COVID-19 local vaccination center set up in the Jangseong-gun Community Hall, Jeollanam-do. / Photo by Yonhap News
Criticism targeting the ruling party also emerged. On the same day, Kim Woong, a member of the People Power Party, posted a photo of a banner of Go Min-jung, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, on Facebook.
The banner reads phrases such as "Passed 558 trillion won COVID livelihood budget" and "Secured vaccine doses for 44 million people."
Regarding this, Kim sarcastically criticized, "Where is this quantity? Did the Democratic Party do the Democratic Party again?"
Meanwhile, according to the COVID-19 Vaccination Response Promotion Team (Promotion Team) on the same day, as of the 17th, the cumulative number of first-dose COVID-19 vaccine recipients was 1,512,503. The vaccination rate compared to the domestic population (about 52 million) is about 2.91%.
Currently, South Korea's vaccination rate ranks 35th out of 37 member countries of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).
Some have predicted that if South Korea's vaccination speed continues at the current pace, it could take several years to achieve herd immunity.
According to the vaccine tracker of the U.S. financial media 'Bloomberg,' South Korea is recently administering an average of 32,000 vaccine doses per day. Bloomberg estimated that if the current pace continues, it would take South Korea 6 years and 4 months to achieve herd immunity.
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