[단독]General elderly people are also vaccinated next month… 75 years of age or older is preferred

The government is actively considering a plan to start vaccination by dividing the general elderly by the age of 75 from next month. It plans to meet the amount of inoculation available within the second quarter by gathering individual negotiations with AstraZeneca.

According to the JoongAng Ilbo coverage on the 9th, the government will expand the targets of COVID-19 vaccination to the elderly, starting with the elderly aged 65 or older in nursing hospitals and nursing facilities at the end of this month. According to the Ministry of Public Administration and Security, the number of elderly people 65 years or older in Korea was 8.582,000 as of February. Excluding the 376,000 residents in nursing hospitals and nursing facilities of the same age, there are about 8.26,000 people. Elderly inhabitants in nursing hospitals and nursing facilities are the first candidates for vaccination in the first quarter, so it is separate from vaccination for general elderly people.

The government is preparing a vaccination plan for the elderly in consideration of the fact that the amount of vaccines introduced in the second quarter is fluctuating. Elderly Ja-soon is in the midst of a strong review. A government official said, “First of all, a plan to inoculate’aged 65 or older and younger than 75 years old’ is being discussed after matching ’75 years of age’. “However, the final second quarter vaccination plan is’Corona 19 expert advice and vaccination. It will be decided by the’deliberation committee’.’

In line with this, the quarantine authorities’ plans to secure vaccine supplies in the second quarter are gradually being materialized. According to the Central Defense Response Headquarters, it has been confirmed that 250,000 Pfizer vaccines (500,000 doses) will be delivered to Korea on the 22nd and 29th respectively. This is not the supply of’Covax Facility’, a multinational vaccine joint purchase alliance, but an individual purchase contract with Pfizer. Until now, the authorities announced that it will be introduced in March, but the date was set on the 9th. In the second quarter, an additional 3 million Pfizer (6 million doses) is expected to arrive.

There is also an additional quantity of AstraZeneca. The Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention explained that 345,000 people (690,000 doses) will be received within this month, and 75,000 people (1,11,000 doses) will be in turn in April and May. This quantity for 1.05 million people is part of the share that Kobax will receive. The amount introduced in March was initially for 190,000 people, but increased to 345,000 through negotiations. However, the date has not been specified yet. Yang Dong-gyo, head of the Resource Management Team of the Corona 19 Vaccination Response Promotion Team, said at a regular briefing on the 9th, “We will inform you as soon as the date is confirmed.”

The total amount of Pfizer-AstraZeneca vaccines coming in the future will be 4.55 million people (9.1 million doses). Given that they had to get the vaccine twice, it was for 4.55 million people, which is the amount that 9.1 million people can get it once. In particular, the government plans to pull in the amount of individual contracts for AstraZeneca as much as possible. Negotiations are currently in the final stage. The scale is said to exceed the initial volume (for 750,000 people) received last month. There are also Janssen, Modena, and NovaVax shipments scheduled for the second quarter. A government official said, “We will be able to match the amount of vaccination for the general elderly.”

The second quarter vaccination plan is in the draft review stage. At a briefing on the previous day (8th), Jung Eun-kyung, head of the Central Defense Countermeasure Headquarters, said, “When the vaccine supply plan is confirmed, we will prepare an inoculation plan periodically according to the supply plan.” “We are working on drafting and reviewing vaccination methods.”

Meanwhile, 383,346 people (as of 0 o’clock on the 9th) have been vaccinated with the Corona 19 vaccine so far. AstraZeneca is the majority with 37,7138. There are 6208 Pfizers.

Reporter Minwook Kim [email protected]