[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Ji-eun] President Moon Jae-in received his second dose of the COVID-19 vaccine on the 30th. This was moved up by two weeks from the original schedule to align with next month's South Korea-US summit.
The Blue House announced that President Moon and the First Lady visited a public health center in Jongno-gu, Seoul, that morning to receive their second vaccinations.
Earlier, on March 23, President Moon received his first dose of the AstraZeneca (AZ) vaccine under the 'vaccination procedure for essential overseas travel' in preparation for attending the Group of Seven (G7) summit scheduled for June this year.
The interval between AZ vaccine doses is 12 weeks, with the second dose originally planned for mid-next month. However, as plans for the South Korea-US summit in mid-next month became concrete, the timing of the second dose was moved forward. This is because 14 days must pass after the second dose for antibody formation.
The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency allows a 4-week interval between the first and second doses only for urgent overseas travelers. The AZ vaccine is authorized for use with a 4 to 12-week dosing interval both domestically and internationally.
On this day, the First Lady Kim Jung-sook and eight staff members from the Presidential Secretariat, who had also received the first dose, accompanied the President and were vaccinated together. The nurse who administered the first dose also administered President Moon's second dose.
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