The World On arirang

Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun in a briefing on Wednesday said that he would visit vaccination sites to encourage the elderly to get vaccinated against the flu.

"I too will be on site today to check how flu shots are being carried out and see if there's anything to improve."

The government is providing flu shots to the young and elderly free of charge to reduce the burden on hospitals this winter amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
But concern over the safety of the seasonal flu vaccines is mounting as nine people have died shortly after receiving the vaccine.
At least four of those deaths came on Wednesday, including a Daegu man in his 70s who reportedly had Parkinson's disease, and a man in Jeju known to have had high blood pressure.
The flu shots come from several different manufacturers, and the manufacturer of the vaccine given to the man in Jeju has not yet been disclosed.
On Tuesday, a man in his 80s in Daejeon and a woman in her 70s in Gochang, Jeollabuk-do Province died one day after receiving the vaccine.
A high school student in Incheon also died last week shortly after having the vaccine.
An epidemiological investigation is underway into the deaths, but as of now, no evidence has been found to suggest the deaths were caused by the flu vaccination.
Han Seong-woo, Arirang News.