Health officials have decided to postpone AstraZeneca vaccination for seniors aged 65 and over. The government tried to start vaccinations from the elderly living in nursing homes on the 26th, next Friday, but from the start, the plan was disrupted. The vaccine target amount that was intended to be introduced in Korea in the first quarter also decreased by 300,000.
This news is reporter Nam Joo-hyun.
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The government’s original plan was to give the first vaccine to the elderly living in groups in nursing hospitals or nursing facilities.
However, we changed our plan and decided to give priority to users and workers under the age of 65.
This is because the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Vaccination Committee has confirmed the safety of the AstraZeneca vaccine, but excluded it from the initial vaccination target, saying that there is insufficient clinical data to determine whether it is effective even over the age of 65.
At the earliest, we will check the results of the US clinical trials coming out at the end of March and judge again.
[정은경/질병관리청장 : 방역당국 입장에서도 굉장히 안타깝게 생각을 합니다. 가장 사망률이 높고 중증도가 높은 고위험군에게 접종을 1차적으로 하는 것이 맞습니다.]
More than 30,000 patients under the age of 65 and 137,000 workers in nursing hospitals, 11,000 residents in nursing facilities, and 90,000 workers are given priority.
It is expected that the person who received the vaccine No. 1 on the 26th will become a nursing hospital worker.
Next month, up to 350,000 workers in high-risk medical institutions such as university hospitals and 70,000 first responders to Corona 19, such as epidemiological investigators, will receive the AstraZeneca vaccine.
The Agency for Disease Control and Prevention said that group residents 65 years of age or older will be vaccinated first without limiting the type of vaccine after April, but Janssen and Modena’s vaccines cannot be guaranteed when they will be introduced in Korea.