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| Health Minister Park Neung-hoo, left, gets a flu shot at a hospital in Sejong, Tuesday, as part of efforts to demonstrate the safety of the vaccinations administered under a free state-led program. Yonhap |
By Bahk Eun-ji
Health Minister Park Neung-hoo received a seasonal influenza vaccination Tuesday in an effort to calm down public anxiety over its safety, according to his ministry. Park, who was born in 1956, is included in a list of recipients for the government's free seasonal flu vaccinations for the elderly aged 62 and older which began Monday.
Park is the second minister to receive a shot, following Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun who was administered the flu vaccine at a community health center in Sejong, Oct. 21, in accordance with the vaccination schedule for those aged 70 or older that began Oct. 19. Jeong Eun-kyung, commissioner of the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA), who was born in 1965, is not eligible for the free program.
Park reiterated the importance of vaccination against the seasonal flu again during a regular briefing at the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasure Headquarters, Tuesday, and urged the public to trust the judgment of experts, claiming there was no link between recent deaths and the vaccination.
"It is unscientific to simply halt vaccinations in a situation where there is no association validated between them and the recent deaths," Park said. "Some experts have also suggested that stopping the program is a risk factor that can cause anxiety during the COVID-19 pandemic."
However, the health minister strongly recommended that older people get a checkup prior to receiving the flu shot, to ensure they were in a healthy condition.
Park visited a local clinic in Sejong to receive the injection, a ministry official said.
President Moon Jae-in also stressed the need to get vaccinated especially this year, as the country strives to stem the potential simultaneous spread of COVID-19 and seasonal influenza.
During a weekly meeting with senior secretaries at Cheong Wa Dae, he advised people not to be excessively concerned about the safety of the flu shots.
"Excessive anxiety about the safety of flu vaccines can lead the public to miss the appropriate time for inoculation, and if the seasonal influenza this winter is not under control, the public's health will be more endangered as the symptoms of flu are similar to those of the coronavirus," Moon said.
The remarks represented his first public statement on concerns about flu vaccinations amid the government's efforts to bring the COVID-19 outbreak under control. In regard to the fight against the coronavirus pandemic, the President said the nation's anti-coronavirus system was "working effectively."
According to the KDCA, 88 new infections were confirmed for Monday, including 72 locally transmitted cases, raising the total caseload to 26,043. Three additional deaths were reported, putting the total at 460 with a fatality rate of 1.77 percent.
The country's daily new cases fell below 100 again, amid concerns over possible sporadic infection clusters at high-risk facilities including hospitals and nursing homes as group infections at these were largely to blame for the recent uptick trend.
Among the new locally transmitted cases, 24 were reported in Seoul, 27 in Gyeonggi Province, six in Gangwon Province, and five in North Gyeongsang Province.
As of Monday, a total of 42 COVID-19 cases have been traced to a private gathering in Guro, Seoul, up two from the previous day. A senior citizens' care facility in Namyangju, Gyeonggi Province, has reported 62 infections so far, while a hospital in Gunpo, Geyonggi Province, added two more cases, raising the total there to 46.
Cases traced to a rehabilitation hospital in Gwangju, south of Seoul, reached 135, according to the KDCA.
