The elderly in the UK, the nurse in the US, the president in South Africa…

With the domestic vaccination of the new coronavirus infection (Corona 19) vaccine starting on the 26th, the battle is intensifying over who will get the ‘1 vaccine’. President Moon Jae-in, the Minister of Health and Welfare, and the head of the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC), and other national leadership are facing the stance that it is against fairness because it is not a priority target for vaccination. By what criteria did countries around the world who started vaccination before Korea chose vaccine 1? There are three models of vaccine No. 1 targets by country.

First of all, this is a case where the elderly, who are at high risk for Corona 19, are selected as the No. 1 vaccine target. The UK, which started vaccination for the first time in the world on December 8 last year, set Margaret Keenan, who was at the time of her 91st birthday, as the first target. The UK government has selected national health service (NHS) employees who are 80 years of age or older, residents or employees of nursing hospitals, exposed to high risk or in poor health, as priority targets. Among them, it was a judgment that reflected the results of research that the elderly are particularly at risk. France and Spain also selected Morissette, 78, in a long-term care facility, and Araceli Rosario Hidalgo, 96, living in a nursing home, as the first vaccinations last year.

The second is the case where the forefront medical staff caring for corona 19 patients was put forward as the first inoculation. On December 14, last year, in the United States, black nurse Sandra Lindsey, 52, became the first vaccination. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has recommended inoculation with Corona 19 medical staff as the top priority candidates, followed by senior citizens living in long-term care facilities and employees. Lindsay was selected as the first candidate for vaccination because she risked her life to take care of patients when the Corona 19 pandemic began in New York early last year. However, local media believe that the infection damage of people of color was more serious than whites in the United States, and the fact that black people were more distrustful of vaccines was reflected in the reason for the selection of candidates for vaccination.

Not only the United States, but also Japan, who has been vaccinated since the 17th, selected Kazuhiro Araki, the head of the Tokyo Medical Center, as the first vaccine. In Japan, 40,000 medical workers such as doctors and nurses at 100 national medical institutions nationwide were included as priority vaccinations, and this was reflected.

Lastly, the president and other national leaders volunteered for the first vaccine in their country. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Czech Prime Minister Andrei Babis are representative. In the case of Prime Minister Netanyahu, he was vaccinated last December at the age of 71. At the time, when a poll resulted that one-third of Israeli citizens were reluctant to vaccination, he said, “I will set an example and persuade the people that vaccination is necessary.” Israel currently ranks first in the world for the number of vaccinations per population. Although it is not the first inoculation in Korea, President Biden of the United States took the lead in vaccination early as an elected state, and Queen Elizabeth of England was also vaccinated with her husband Philip Gong.

However, it differs from Korea in that all of the vaccine 1 vaccinators in the above 3 cases received the’Pfizer’ vaccine. Unlike the Pfizer vaccine, AstraZeneca, which will be introduced for the first time in Korea on the 26th, is controversial over its effect on the elderly over the age of 65. The disease agency also raised controversy as it decided to postpone vaccination for the elderly over the age of 65 until additional clinical results in the United States were released in late March.

President Moon is 68 years old and is not included in the AZ vaccination target, but some argue that there is no safety problem as a result of consulting with the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, so President Moon should take the initiative to increase public confidence in the vaccine.

In fact, in countries where vaccines other than Pfizer have begun, national leaders are taking the lead in vaccination. President Cyril Lamaposa of South Africa was the first in the world to receive the Janssen vaccine. As the Janssen vaccine has not been approved for emergency use in any country in the world, it appears to be aimed at calming down public anxiety.

In the case of Indonesian President Joko Widodo (59), he became the number one vaccination in the country by importing the Chinese Synovac vaccine. At the time, President Joko Widodo’s vaccination was broadcast live on YouTube, and more than 60,000 people watched it in real time. Turkey’s health minister Fahretin Koza also stepped forward as the first inoculation while introducing the Synovac vaccine. In addition, in France, where the AZ vaccine was introduced, increased distrust, Olivier Berand, the French Health Minister, gave an open vaccination.

Jeong Ki-seok, a professor of respiratory medicine at Hallym University Sacred Heart Hospital, said, “45% of the people are hesitant to get vaccination, but if you leave the current atmosphere as it is, you may suffer later. If you start a nursing hospital first, you will definitely have to die, and if you are unlucky, problems related to vaccines can also arise,” he said. Eun-mi Chun, a professor of respiratory medicine at Ewha Womans University Mokdong Hospital, commented on the point that there may be a controversy over fairness if the social leadership is first met, “I was not the first candidate for vaccination in other countries, but it was a representative response from the public’s request. “I don’t think there are many people to protest just because some of the social leaders are right first.”

Reporter Woorim Lee [email protected]