Moon receives AZ vaccine, likely enabling him to restart summit diplomacy

President Moon Jae-in receives a shot of AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine at a public health center in Jongno District, Seoul, Tuesday. Yonhap

President gets AZ shot ahead of G7 summit in Britain in June

By Nam Hyun-woo

President Moon Jae-in received his first dose of AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine, Tuesday, in preparation for his attendance at the G7 summit, slated for June 11 to 13 in Cornwall, the U.K.

Moon got the shot after visiting a public health center in Seoul's central Jongno District that was designated as the vaccination center for delegates preparing to go overseas for the G7 meeting. Along with Moon, first lady Kim Jung-sook, National Security Office Chief Suh Hoon and eight other aides also received their shots.

A Cheong Wa Dae official said that, including Moon, a total of 11 people were vaccinated in order to make full use of the 11 doses per vial.

Upon getting the shot, Moon said, “No problem at all,” a remark interpreted to be aimed at soothing public concerns about the safety of the AstraZeneca vaccine.

The AstraZeneca vaccine's safety and efficacy has raised controversy. Korea first suspended inoculation of the vaccine to people aged 65 or over, citing insufficient data on its efficacy for the age group. It later decided to use the vaccine for the elderly, but then suspected blood clot cases were reported after AstraZeneca vaccine injections both here and abroad. But the health authorities decided to go ahead with the vaccination program as planned, saying there was no causal relation between the development of the blood clots and the vaccine.

Partly out of concerns that such controversy would make people avoid vaccination and result in failure to achieve the government's goal of obtaining herd immunity by November, the President decided to get the AstraZeneca shot. The President and his aides received the jabs earlier than the nation's vaccination schedule, but they were in line with the authorities' guideline for those who required to travel overseas for essential purposes.

Presidential spokesperson Kang Min-seok quoted Moon saying that there is “a necessity to expedite the country's vaccination campaign,” even though the campaign is proceeding as planned. Kang added that Moon presided over a 90-minute meeting immediately after returning to the presidential office.

Another Cheong Wa Dae official said that Moon is expected to receive his second dose in mid-May, given that he has to leave Korea for the G7 summit in June and it takes two weeks for the vaccine to be considered effective.

President Moon Jae-in watches first lady Kim Jung-sook receive a shot of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine at a public health center in Jongno District, Seoul, Tuesday. Yonhap

Moon's injection is interpreted as a signal that he will resume face-to-face meetings with global leaders and put the country's pandemic-hit diplomacy back on track. Moon's last in-person attendance at a global diplomatic event was a trilateral summit between Korea, Japan and China in December 2019.

Cheong Wa Dae said Moon would attend the G7 summit, which is a meeting of the leaders of the U.S., the U.K., Germany, Italy, France, Japan and Canada. U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson formally invited Moon to the summit through a personal letter, and Moon accepted the invitation.

Along with Moon, leaders of Australia and India were also invited to the summit.

Besides the G7 meeting, the vaccination will provide momentum for Moon to pursue a summit with U.S. President Joe Biden.

During a ministerial meeting last week between Foreign Minister Chung Eui-yong and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, the two sides agreed to continue consultations to hold a top-level Korea-U.S. summit as early as possible.

Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga will visit the U.S. for a summit in April, likely becoming the first foreign leader to meet Biden in person. Since Blinken dropped hints that Biden seeks to review North Korea policy in consultation with Korea and Japan, a summit between Moon and Biden could take place in the not-too-distant future.

Moon's injection also enables the possibility of addressing the North Korea issue at the Tokyo Olympic Games later this summer. Moon has said that he believes the event could be a chance for talks between the two Koreas, the U.S. and Japan. But Japan decided recently not to allow spectators from other countries, so it remains to be seen whether any meetings between the leaders would be possible on the sidelines of the sporting event.

Following the vaccination of the President and first lady, Korea began providing the AstraZeneca vaccine to people aged 65 or older. Moon is 68 years old and Kim is 66. The government said that about 382,300 people in this age group are eligible to be vaccinated.

President Moon Jae-in and first lady Kim Jung-sook enter a public health center in Jongno District, Seoul, Tuesday, to get their AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine shot. Yonhap