The first batch of Pfizer vaccine secured through the COVAX facility, an international vaccine supply organization, is loaded on a Korean Air freighter and is arriving at the cargo terminal of Incheon International Airport on the 26th. Young Jong-do = Reporter Seo Jae-hoon
The Central Pharmacist Review Committee (Corona 19), a legal advisory body of the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, decided that Pfizer’s novel coronavirus infection (Corona 19) vaccine’Cominatiju’ can be vaccinated from the age of 16. If the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety makes the final approval with the same conclusion, high school students may also be eligible for vaccination, depending on the decision of the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The Pfizer vaccine from the COVAX facility, which was previously approved for special importation, arrived at Incheon International Airport on the 26th and was transferred to five vaccination centers.
Lee Dong-hee, head of the Food and Drug Administration of the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, said at the Pfizer’s Corona 19 Vaccine Central Pharmacopoeia Consultation Results Briefing held that day, “The Central Pharmacopoeia recognizes the necessity of the Pfizer vaccine for the purpose of preventing Corona 19 I asked myself that I could do it.”
Director Lee added, “Based on the preventive effect confirmed in the results of clinical trials including those over 16 years of age, there was an opinion that it would be appropriate to grant permission for people over 16 years of age in the same way as the efficacy and effect requested by Pfizer. The explanation is that it took into account the fact that the immune response of adolescents over 16 years old is not different from that of adults, so that data from adult clinical trials can be used.
The safety was also judged at an acceptable level. However, opinions gathered that people with a history of hypersensitivity, including anaphylaxis, need close observation after administration. Director Lee explained, “After permission, there was an opinion that it is reasonable to continuously observe the safety of anaphylaxis and lymphadenopathy, and to continuously collect and evaluate information about abnormal cases that appeared during clinical trials.”
The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety is operating a’triple’ advisory procedure by external experts leading to the verification advisory group, the central medicine trial, and the final inspection committee for objective approval of the COVID-19 vaccine and treatment. Pfizer vaccine only leaves the procedure for the final inspection committee, and the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety expects a final announcement next week as early as possible.
If the final inspection committee concludes the same, the Pfizer vaccine can be officially vaccinated from the age of 16. However, whether high school students 16 years of age or older other than adults are included in the actual vaccination targets is decided by the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Vaccination Committee after approval from the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety. Previously, the AstraZeneca vaccine was approved by the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety to all adults over the age of 18, but the vaccination committee excluded the elderly over the age of 65.
Meanwhile, Pfizer’s Corona 19 vaccine arrived in Korea for the first time at 11:58 am on this day. The vaccine, which originated in the Netherlands, is an initial volume of 58,500 (117,000 doses) out of the 10 million contracts contracted with the international vaccine co-purchasing organization Cobax Facility. Prior to that, it has gone through the procedure for approval of special imports, and it is a separate quantity from the Pfizer vaccine, which is currently undergoing approval by the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety.
Pfizer’s vaccine arrived in a temperature-controlled container that lasts up to 100 hours at -70 degrees Celsius as long as it requires distribution and storage at cryogenic temperatures. The vaccine is subdivided into individual containers at the cargo terminal and then transferred to 5 transport vehicles, starting at 1 p.m., starting with the first vehicle heading to the National Medical Center in Jung-gu, Seoul, the central vaccination center for the COVID-19 vaccine, Busan, Gwangju, Daegu, and Cheonan. Was transferred to.
The Pfizer vaccination begins on the 27th, one day later, at the Central Vaccination Center. 300 medical staff caring for patients at the forefront, including 199 workers at the National Medical Center and 101 workers at the corona 19 patient treatment hospital in the metropolitan area, will receive the Pfizer vaccine first.
Yu Hwan-gu reporter [email protected]
News directly edited by the Hankook Ilbo can also be viewed on Naver.
