[사설] Are there any government measures against the lack of vaccines and concerns about efficacy?

A waiting area was recently established at the’Corona 19 Vaccine Central Vaccination Center’ of the National Medical Center (NMC) in Jung-gu, Seoul. When vaccination begins, you will fill out a questionnaire here and measure your body temperature. [연합뉴스]

There are still concerns about supply and demand and efficacy at home and abroad over the COVID-19 vaccine. The Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention should not take lightly the suspicions that have been raised over vaccines both at home and abroad, and should disclose information transparently and accurately to the public.

The government, which suffered from measles due to the misjudgment of the vaccine supply, has signed a purchase contract for 56 million people by the end of last year. Including the initial purchase of Nova Bax (20 million people), it secured 76 million people. As long as the government announced that it would start vaccination in February, there seems to be no problem with supply and demand.

However, in Europe, which started vaccination early from the end of last year, the rate of vaccination has dropped significantly due to the recent disruption in the supply and demand of vaccines. According to Bloomberg News, the proportion of the population who received more than one vaccination in France was 2.7%, Germany 2.6%, and Italy 2.3%. As the vaccination rate slows, there is also a depressing prospect that it will take seven years to reach a global population immunity (75% of humans form antibodies).

The reason for the low vaccination rates in EU member states is due to the shortage of supplies. According to the European Centers for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), the EU pre-purchased 1.45 billion doses of vaccine, but so far only 12877,000 doses were distributed to member states. A senior EU official admitted a mistake in policy judgment, saying, “We underestimated the difficulty of mass production of vaccines.”

The international community ridiculed Russia when it granted permission to use the world’s first’Sputnik V’vaccine in August last year, and then distrusted when Chinese pharmaceutical companies Sinoparm and Sinobac released the vaccine. However, as the vaccination rate fell due to the lack of vaccines, European countries are making a move to introduce even Chinese and Russian vaccines that have been neglected. In fact, the EU is turning to the position that China and Russia may grant conditional marketing approval if they disclose clinical trial information. That means the supply and demand of vaccines is urgent. The Korean government is also worthy of reviewing’Plan B’while keeping an eye on this movement in Europe.

The efficacy of the vaccine is still controversial. According to the vaccination plan announced by the government on the 28th of last month, the controversial AstraZeneca vaccine will be vaccinated in the middle of this month following the Pfizer vaccine. On the 5th, the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety’s Central Pharmacist Review Committee advised that the AstraZeneca vaccine should be “determined carefully” on the vaccination of the AstraZeneca vaccine. In addition, a clinical trial at Oxford University in the UK revealed that the AstraZeneca vaccine had a limited inhibitory effect on the South African mutant virus. By the 6th, the number of South African mutant viruses confirmed in Korea has increased to 9, which is causing anxiety. Since there is a shortage of vaccines around the world, I am worried about securing it properly, and I am concerned about the efficacy. The government is urged to closely monitor global trends and, if necessary, correct existing countermeasures.