[사설] Vaccination last in OECD, the terrible reality of K quarantine

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu received the Corona 19 vaccine at the Shiva Medical Center in Tel Aviv on the 9th of last month. It was the second dose of the Pfizer vaccine. [중앙포토]

The first vaccination of the COVID-19 vaccine in Korea will take place on the 26th. Inoculation is already in full swing in 32 of the 37 member states of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), a group of model countries in the world. So far, about half of the Israeli people and about a quarter of the British people have been vaccinated. With an inoculation rate of over 80% among those over 60, Israel is rapidly approaching a daily recovery. It is said that the mall business restrictions will be released soon. In the UK, the number of confirmed cases is falling sharply. The same is true in the United States, where the inoculation rate exceeds 10%. In countries where vaccination started early, the damage to the elderly has significantly decreased. Koreans have no choice but to watch these vaccination developed countries with envy.

Excluding 32 countries, five countries are Korea, Japan, New Zealand, Australia and Colombia. Japan is entering the vaccination today. New Zealand and Colombia start on the 20th and Australia on the 22nd. This means that Korea is the last among 37 countries. Moreover, in Korea, unlike other OECD member countries, the first vaccination group is not a medical staff dealing with the elderly and those infected with Corona 19. It targets patients under the age of 65 who are admitted to nursing hospitals and medical personnel who care for them. Pfizer Modena, which has proven excellent in terms of efficacy and safety, has been delayed in purchasing a vaccine, and the only thing that can be used right now is the AstraZeneca vaccine, which has a suspicious effect on the elderly.

While other countries were competing to secure vaccines, the Korean government was eager to promote K quarantine and followed the mirage of’developing domestic treatments and vaccines’. That time made this difference. It’s a painful mistake. Nevertheless, the government and the ruling party made absurd excuses such as “It helps to verify the safety because it is possible to see the situation in other countries” and “It was to lower the purchase cost.” President Moon Jae-in said at the end of last year, “There are some concerns that the vaccination will be delayed. This is not true. We have already secured enough stock.” Prime Minister Jeong Sye-gyun said, “In early February, 50,000 Pfizer vaccines will come.” All turned out to be Huh Eon.

Prime Minister Chung announced yesterday that he had agreed to receive 3.5 million Pfizer vaccines in the first half and signed a contract to purchase 20 million NovaVax vaccines. It has already been 5 months since the people in charge tried to escape the difficult situation by saying “a lot of them are coming”. The government guarantees that there will be no setbacks in the plan to form collective immunity in November, but few people believe it. It is a natural suspicion that the government has never seen an honest appearance of admitting a mistake while in a hurry to conceal mistakes. Even now, I ask for your patience by sincerely explaining who and what called this terrible reality. That is the least way for the people to live with business restrictions and distance from’vaccine underdeveloped countries’. It is also the first step in restoring trust.