[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Ji-eun] President Moon Jae-in announced that the transition to the second phase of daily recovery will be postponed, and a special quarantine measure focusing on the 'early completion of the 3rd vaccination dose' will be implemented over the next four weeks.
On the afternoon of the 29th, President Moon presided over the 'Special Quarantine Inspection Meeting for COVID-19 Response' at the Blue House and stated, "Now, the 3rd vaccination dose is not an additional dose but a basic dose, and it is necessary to shift the perception that vaccination is only complete after receiving the 3rd dose."
President Moon described the current situation, where confirmed cases and critically ill patients are rapidly increasing due to the phased daily recovery and the overlapping Omicron variant, as "a different level of another critical moment" and expressed concern that "if we fail to overcome this critical moment, the phased daily recovery will fail, leading to a greater crisis."
However, he added, "We cannot revert to the past by undoing the phased daily recovery that was difficult to start," and announced, "We will postpone the transition to the second phase of daily recovery and implement special quarantine measures for the next four weeks."
President Moon emphasized, "The core of the special quarantine measures is vaccination," and urged, "Starting with the government, I hope all citizens who have completed the 2nd dose will make every effort to complete the 3rd dose early under this awareness."
He continued, "The government is already accelerating the 3rd dose vaccination for nursing hospitals and nursing facilities, which are the highest risk groups, and has shortened the interval between the 2nd and 3rd doses," adding, "I ask the public to actively participate in the 3rd dose vaccination, thinking that completing the 3rd dose means completing the basic vaccination, just as they hurried to receive the 1st and 2nd doses."
President Moon also pointed out that while the vaccination rate among adults aged 18 and over is high, vaccination among those aged 12 to 17 is relatively sluggish, and ordered to "speed up the vaccination rate among teenagers." Regarding this, he instructed to sufficiently explain the vaccine's effectiveness and safety to parents and students, consider convenient vaccination methods such as school-based vaccinations, and promptly review vaccination for children aged 5 to 12, as implemented in the United States and other countries.
He urged the government to strive to secure the sustainability of the medical system. President Moon said, "Please actively cooperate with local governments and the medical community and work closely with community medical institutions to ensure there are no gaps in the treatment of critically ill patients and home treatment," and added, "Please advance the introduction timing of oral therapeutics, scheduled to be introduced in February next year, so that they can be used within this year, and actively utilize domestically produced antibody therapeutics for patients in need." Furthermore, he instructed to strengthen quarantine measures for infection-vulnerable facilities such as nursing and elderly welfare facilities and to thoroughly implement measures to block the domestic inflow of the 'Omicron' variant.
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