"Give More Vaccines" to Demands by Oh Se-hoon and Lee Jae-myung... Jung Eun-kyeong "Considering Priority Allocation to the Capital Region"

Lee Jae-myung, Governor of Gyeonggi Province; Jeong Eun-kyeong, Director of the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency; Oh Se-hoon, Mayor of Seoul

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Hyun-joo] As the fourth wave of COVID-19 intensifies, local government heads in the Seoul metropolitan area, where infections are concentrated, have requested additional vaccine supplies from health authorities. Jung Eun-kyung, head of the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency, announced that vaccine quantities will be prioritized for the metropolitan area.

According to Park Kyung-mi, spokesperson for the Blue House, at the special COVID-19 response meeting for the metropolitan area held on the 12th at the Blue House Yeomin-gwan, presided over by President Moon Jae-in, Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon requested an additional allocation of 1 million doses to start early vaccination for the youth population.

Mayor Oh stated, "Although the number of confirmed cases among young people, who have high activity levels and contact rates, is increasing, they are excluded from the priority vaccination groups. While the incidence and fatality rates among the elderly are decreasing, asymptomatic and mild cases are rising mainly among young people," adding, "There is an urgent need to reinforce the public healthcare system, including residential treatment centers and hospital beds."

Gyeonggi Province Governor Lee Jae-myung also suggested, "When allocating vaccines for autonomous vaccination by priority per city and province, the same criteria are applied to level 4 and level 1 areas," and requested, "Please assign weights considering the severity of level 4 areas." Incheon Mayor Park Nam-chun urged, "When allocating additional vaccines to the metropolitan area, please include Incheon, which has accepted social distancing levels similar to Seoul and Gyeonggi, despite having a higher infection rate."

In response, Director Jung said, "Reflecting local government requests, the scale of autonomous vaccination has been increased from the original 2 million to 3 million people, and first-dose supplies will be sequentially provided by early August," adding, "We will consider adjusting the supply schedule to prioritize the metropolitan area when supplying 3 million doses for autonomous vaccination."

Mayor Oh and Governor Lee also proposed expanding self-treatment options. Director Jung replied that after practical reviews on feasibility and management systems, further consultations with local governments will be conducted.

Gyeonggi Province Governor Lee Jae-myung (from the right), Incheon Mayor Park Nam-chun, and Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon attended the Special Metropolitan Area Quarantine Inspection Meeting held at the Blue House on the afternoon of the 12th, listening to remarks by President Moon Jae-in. (Provided by the Blue House) [Image source=Yonhap News]

Meanwhile, at the meeting, President Moon emphasized, "The government and local governments should work closely to end social distancing level 4 quickly and decisively," and warned, "If we fail in quarantine or if the people suffer due to quarantine measures, everyone here will be responsible."

He continued, "We must actively operate joint inspection teams and strictly enforce the 'one strike out' policy for violations of quarantine rules," urging strong implementation.