S.Korean Prez receives Covid vax

Seoul, March 23 South Korean President Moon Jae-in received his first dose of the Covid-19 vaccine on Tuesday ahead of his overseas trip scheduled in June.

Moon was administered the first jab of the full two-dose Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine at a public health centre in central Seoul, Xinhua news agency quoted the presidential Blue House as saying.

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.

Moon's key entourage, set to accompany the South Korean leader on his trip to the UK 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 the vaccines to a total of 680,560 people with 883 fully inoculated.

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 South Korean government has 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.

( With inputs from IANS )