The Pfizer vaccine placed in the vaccination room of the Central Vaccination Center at the National Medical Center, Jung-gu, Seoul, is being thawed at room temperature on the morning of the morning of the 27th of last month when the Pfizer vaccination began for medical staff treating COVID-19 patients. Photo Sharing Foundation
‘The start is slower than other countries, but the vaccination rate will be faster’ (Prime Minister Jeong Sye-gyun during a policy debate by foreign journalists on January 27)
The core of the government’s vaccination plan to end the novel coronavirus infection (Corona 19) is’speed battle’. Based on the proven health and medical capabilities, it will proceed with large-scale vaccination faster than any other country in the world. However, this goal is highly likely to become a reality from June. Before that, even if they wanted to speed up, it was unclear whether they could secure vaccine supplies. Some point out that if the vaccine supply is concentrated after the third quarter, it may put a burden on the medical system and slow the vaccination rate.
It’s just ahead of the second quarter… Supply schedule is still’in the fog’
According to the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the cumulative number of COVID-19 vaccine vaccinations as of 0 o’clock on a day was 21,177, and 765 people completed the vaccination during the day before. The inoculation rate relative to the population is 0.041%. Vaccinations for the first responders of Corona 19, such as 119 paramedics and epidemiological investigators, following the residents and workers of nursing hospitals and workers at high-risk medical institutions, will start as early as the 7th of this month.
The government announced the’Corona 19 Vaccination Implementation Plan’ at the end of January, and announced that it will inoculate 1.3 million people in the first quarter, 9 million people in the second quarter, and 33.25 million people in the third to fourth quarters. Considering that out of the initial target (1.3 million people) in the first quarter, the amount of vaccine supply confirmed so far is only about 800,000 people (750,000 AstraZeneca, 58,500 Pfizer), so close to 10 million people need to be vaccinated in the second quarter. to be.
However, even though the second quarter is approaching, the specific vaccine supply schedule is still’in the fog’. So far, the vaccine that is scheduled to be supplied in the second quarter is about 4.8 million people, which is only half of the government target. These include the 3.5 million contracts signed with Pfizer and the 1.38 million AstraZeneca supplies from the international vaccine co-purchasing organization’Covax Facility’.
May be only 4% of the vaccinated population by May… “Result of not pre-purchasing”
The problem is that many of these quantities are likely to come in after June. Of the current 2Q supply, the supply schedule for Pfizer vaccine is about 500,000 and AstraZeneca for 190,000. The government plans to bring in the vaccine in March as early as possible and inoculate it from April, but considering that the supply and demand for vaccines has been delayed by about a month from the plan, in the worst case, the situation has to endure with only 690,000 people from April to May. can do.
In this case, about 1.5 million people will be vaccinated by May, and only 4% of the population will be vaccinated from February to May. Considering the government’s plan that 70% of the population (about 35 million people) will complete the first vaccination by September and form collective immunity in November, it is calculated that the remaining 33.5 million vaccinations can be gathered from June to September.
Of course, there are still many variables. This is because the government has announced that it will sequentially supply 20 million NovaVax vaccines, 6 million Janssen, and 20 million units of Modena. However, it only means that supply will be’started’ in the second quarter, and it has not been clearly stated when and how much will come in.
The prospects of experts are also not bright. “As the safety of vaccines has been proven, supply is flowing into an atmosphere that cannot keep up with demand,” said Kim Woo-joo, a professor of infectious medicine at Daegu Guro Hospital. “Because the government has not made pre-purchase contracts with vaccine manufacturers, the supply period is now being accelerated. “There will be limits to that.”
Vaccinations flocked after the third quarter… Concerns about “the burden of the medical system”
It is still unclear how long it will last even if antibodies are produced in the body of a vaccinated person. For this reason, the inoculation rate should be increased as much as possible. With the prolonged corona 19 epidemic, there is a fear that the number of confirmed cases will increase again as alertness decreases or the mutant virus spreads. Group immunity is possible only if the vaccine is given as much as possible before that. However, under the current situation, most of our people will be vaccinated only in the second half of the year. If inoculations are concentrated in the second half of the year, the burden on quarantine and medical systems may be greater.
Jeong Ki-seok, a professor of respiratory medicine at Hallym University Sacred Heart Hospital, said, “Since getting the vaccine only once has some degree of preventive effect, it is good for the most people to get the vaccination in the second quarter, but I am worried that most of the quantity is concentrated in the third quarter.” “In order to reduce the burden of the medical system, the vaccinations must be distributed evenly, but they are concentrated in the second half,” said Ma Sang-hyuk, vice president of the Korean Vaccination Society.
Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) chief said, “Introduction of 500,000 Pfizer vaccines confirmed by individual contracts is scheduled to be introduced at the end of this month, and the supply of other Q2 supplies is still being specified at a regular briefing held on the same day.” .
Yu Hwan-gu reporter [email protected]
News directly edited by the Hankook Ilbo can also be viewed on Naver.
