[특파원 칼럼] Distrust in securing vaccines caused by overconfidence of K quarantine

Input 2020.12.27 23:56 | Revision 2020.12.28 00:57

Singapore, one of the best countries in preventing coronavirus, will soon be vaccinated with a corona vaccine jointly developed by Pfizer, a US pharmaceutical company, and Bioentech, Germany. It is the vaccine that began in the UK earlier this month, and the US and Canada were vaccinated. On the 21st, the first Pfizer-Bioentech vaccine arrived in Singapore for the first time in Asia. Vaccines from Modena of the United States, Sinovac from China, and Arcturus from the United States will be supplied to Singapore in a row.

Singapore, with a population of 5.7 million, reached the highest number of confirmed cases (1111) in April this year, and then controlled the size of the infection relatively stably. From October, the number of infected people per day is usually less than 20. As of the 26th, the number of corona deaths was 808 in Korea and 29 in Singapore. Even taking into account that Singapore’s population is one-tenth of that of Korea, this is a quarantine outcome comparable to the Korean government’s proud K quarantine.

However, the attitudes of the two countries toward vaccines were different. Singapore has been striving to secure vaccines even when the number of confirmed cases is managed as a single digit. It allocated a budget of S$1 billion (approximately 830 billion won) to purchase the vaccine and pre-purchased several vaccines. It is also known that it has recently obtained a vaccine from China’s Sinovac, where the results of the phase 3 clinical trial have not been disclosed. Singapore’s Prime Minister Li Xianlong said in a talk to the public on the 14th that he announced approval for the use of Pfizer’s vaccine, “we bet on various vaccines.” It means that it has secured several vaccines at the expense of a situation where safety and effectiveness have not been fully confirmed. Prime Minister Li Xianlong said that by the third quarter of next year, enough vaccines will be available to all citizens.

We have no promise when the entire people will be vaccinated. The Korean government signed a contract to purchase 10 million AstraZeneca vaccines in the UK last month, and then completed a vaccine purchase contract with Pfizer (10 million) and Janssen (6 million) on the 24th of this month. AstraZeneca vaccination will begin as soon as possible in February of next year. The Janssen vaccine is expected to be introduced in the second quarter of next year and some of the Pfizer vaccine will be introduced in the third quarter of next year. It is said that it may be difficult to expect group immunity (the majority of the group is immune) through vaccination even at the end of next year, a year later.

Why did this difference occur? It is because of the carelessness arising from overconfidence of K quarantine. From the beginning of the coronavirus outbreak, the medical community recommended that the vaccine development and acquisition should be hurried, but the government turned away. They praised themselves as the No. 1 nation in quarantine and had no intention of launching K quarantine. China recently signed a contract to purchase 100 million doses of Pfizer vaccine next year. Including five Chinese vaccine candidates that are currently in phase 3 clinical trials, it has acquired foreign vaccines as the annual production is expected to exceed 1.6 billion doses next year.

Prime Minister Jeong Sye-gyun said on the 20th, “In July, when the vaccine task force was operated, the number of confirmed cases in Korea was around 100, so there is a side of not thinking about increasing dependence on vaccines.” Only after the criticism of’Why are we not getting the corona vaccine?’ he made a statement that seemed to acknowledge the government’s responsibility to delay securing the vaccine.

Singaporean Prime Minister Li Xianlong said he would get the vaccine himself to reassure the public that the vaccine is safe. He said, “Thanks to the vaccine, I can see the light at the end of the tunnel.” If vaccination is used to stop the spread of the virus, economic recovery can be accelerated. The World Economic Forum (Davos Forum), where world political and economic leaders gather in Davos, Switzerland every year, will be held in Singapore next year. This is the part where external trust toward Singapore and Singapore’s confidence are clearly revealed.

President Moon Jae-in also said on the 9th, “The end of the long tunnel of the corona is near.” I want to see the light at the end of the long tunnel.