S.Korean president receives COVID-19 vaccine ahead of overseas trip

SEOUL, March 23 (Xinhua) -- South Korean President Moon Jae-in publicly received his first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine on Tuesday ahead of his overseas trip scheduled in June.

Moon was given the first jab of the full two-dose vaccine, developed by the British-Swedish drug maker AstraZeneca and Oxford University, at a public health center in central Seoul, according to the presidential Blue House.

The vaccine's "safety and efficacy" have been internationally reaffirmed and most of the European countries restarted their vaccination programs, Moon said during a meeting with his senior secretaries on Monday as part of efforts to help moderate the public anxiety here over the vaccine safety.

Germany, France, Italy and other European countries resumed the administration of the AstraZeneca vaccines, after suspending it amid worry about blood clot. The European Medicines Agency confirmed that the vaccine is safe and effective.

Moon's key entourage, set to accompany the South Korean leader on his trip to Britain in June, were also vaccinated earlier in the day.

The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) launched the inoculation of patients and medical staff in nursing homes and facilities, who are aged 65 or higher, on Tuesday.

According to the latest KDCA data, the country has administered the first dose of COVID-19 vaccines to a total of 680,560 people with 883 fully vaccinated.

Moon asked people to refrain from having any doubt over the vaccine's safety and go for it when they get a public notification, saying the inoculation would be a way to protect themselves and the entire society with a herd immunity.

The Moon government aimed to administer the first jab of COVID-19 vaccines to 12 million people by the end of June among the country's 52-million population in a bid to form a herd immunity no later than November.