| President Moon Jae-in speaks with Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency Commissioner Jeong Eun-kyeong during his visit to a public health center in Seoul's Mapo District, Feb. 26, to observe the administering of COVID-19 vaccines to healthcare workers. Korea Times photo by Wang Tae-seok |
By Jun Ji-hye
President Moon Jae-in is facing a dilemma over whether he has to keep his promise to receive an AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine shot next week, as concerns over safety of the vaccine have kept rising as cases of blood clots after vaccinations have been reported for two consecutive days, Thursday.
The presidential office earlier said President Moon, 68, and first lady Kim Jung-sook, 66, planned to get vaccinated in public on March 23, saying the inoculation is part of preparations for participation in a G-7 summit to be held in Britain in June.
“Moon and the first lady's inoculation against COVID-19 is in line with the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency's (KDCA) guidelines for those who have to go overseas for essential purposes,” presidential spokesman Kang Min-seok said, Monday.
Kang also said Moon was willing to set an example to dispel worries among the public over the safety of the AstraZeneca vaccine, by becoming the first to get the shot on the day when vaccination is set to begin for residents aged 65 and older.
But the country's second case of blood clots after the AstraZeneca vaccine shot was reported, health authorities said, Thursday, noting that a man in his 20s was found to have blood clots after vaccination.
A day earlier, there was a report about the death of a woman in her 60s who was a patient in a long-term care facility and died several days after receiving the AstraZeneca vaccine. The KDCA confirmed that she had blood clots, though the authorities said her death would have been caused by other underlying diseases and may not have a causal relationship to the vaccine.
The continued reports of blood clots came at a time when about 20 European countries have suspended using the AstraZeneca vaccine due to concerns over blood clots and other side effects.
Despite mounting concerns, the authorities here said the AstraZeneca vaccine rollout would continue as no evidence between the vaccine and blood clots was found.
“The decision by some European countries to suspend the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine was a part of precautionary steps, and does not mean that there was correlation between blood clots and vaccines,” Kwon Joon-wook, deputy director of the Central Disease Control Headquarters, said during a media briefing, Thursday.
Kwon added a total of 9,405 cases of side effects and 16 deaths after vaccinations have been reported here as of Wednesday, noting that 9,298 out of 9,405 cases were mild symptoms such as headache.