Conspiracy theory targets Moon's vaccination
A nurse extracts the AstraZeneca vaccine from a vial to a syringe, ahead of the inoculation on President Moon Jae-in at a public health center in Jongno District, Seoul, Tuesday. Yonhap
Health authorities file police reports against conspiracy theory
By Lee Hyo-jin
Rumors have been spreading online that the nurse who inoculated President Moon Jae-in for COVID-19 deliberately switched syringes right before the injection.
In preparation for his attendance at the G7 summit set for June in Britain, Moon and first lady Kim Jung-sook received their first shots of the AstraZeneca vaccine at a public health center in Jongno District, Seoul, Tuesday.
The inoculation was made public as Moon's early vaccination was partially aimed at easing public anxiety on vaccine safety.
But rumors began the next day, when an internet user wrote on an online community that the nurse who inoculated Moon deliberately switched the syringe filled with AstraZeneca's vaccine and used another syringe in order to avoid his injection of the “controversial” vaccine.
“After extracting the vaccine from the vial to a syringe, the nurse went behind the partition wall holding the syringe with its lid off, and came back after a few seconds with a recapped syringe,” read the post.
The writer claimed that as the nurse had no reason to cap the syringe before the injection, she may have changed it to another one containing a Pfizer product or saline solution.
As the unconfirmed claim spread rapidly through social media channels and YouTube, Jongno public health center and Jongno District Office were bombarded with phone calls demanding an explanation and disclosure of CCTV footage. Some even threatened to set the office on fire, according to officials.
The nurse who inoculated Moon has been reportedly suffering from excessive stress due to repeated threats “to tell the truth” through phone calls and text messages after her personal information was revealed on online communities.
Regarding claims that Moon was administered with a Pfizer vaccine instead of AstraZeneca's product, an official at the district office said, “It's absurd. Our office is not even equipped with an ultra-cold freezer yet.” Pfizer's product requires an ultra-cold storage at minus 78 degrees Celsius to 76 degrees Celsius.
Following such rumors, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) confirmed that there had been no switching of vaccines for the President and warned of stern measures against those spreading conspiracy theories, as it may lead to public anxiety and confusion.
“After extracting the dose to the syringe, the nurse recapped the needle in order to prevent possible contamination while making additional preparations for the injection,” it said in a statement, adding that medical staffers' decision on whether to close the lid or not depends on the situation.
The agency explained that usually, injection takes place immediately after extraction of the dose to a syringe, but the process had been slightly delayed due to video filming on site.
The KDCA has filed police reports against uploaders of four internet posts and four videos clips on charges of spreading unfounded conspiracy theories, while asking the Korea Communications Commission to immediately remove such content from the internet.
Daegu Metropolitan Police Agency, which took charge of the case, launched an investigation on Thursday.