Eunkyung Jung, “Supply for 750,000 AZ vaccines, final week of this month” (Comprehensive)

Input 2021.02.08 15:31 | Revision 2021.02.08 16:20

It is the first time to determine the specific timing among domestic imports.
Controversy about the effects of vaccination and mutation for the elderly remains
Nam Jae-hwan “Existing 60% defense ability, at 20% to South African mutation”
Commissioner Chung “Reviewing the possibility of introducing all vaccines including Russia”

AstraZeneca’s new coronavirus infection (Corona 19) vaccine will be supplied to 750,000 people in Korea in the last week of this month. This is the first quantity of 10 million people supplied in Korea under the contract for consignment production between AstraZeneca and SK Bioscience.

In the’Citizen Participation Special Briefing’ at 2:10 pm on the 8th, Eun-kyung Chung, head of the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said, “1.5 million doses (750,000 people) are being prepared for distribution and delivery as the supply schedule has been confirmed for the last week of this month. “I said.

Excluding about 60,000 Pfizer vaccines (117,000 doses), which will be introduced after the middle of this month through Cobax Facility, it is the first vaccine to be used for large-scale vaccinations to medical staff and elderly people over 65 in the second quarter.

Apart from the 10 million people, about 1.3 million people (2.6 million doses) will be added to Korea through the COVEX facility in the first half.

Controversy continues with the adequacy of vaccination for the elderly and its efficacy against mutant viruses. Health authorities in some European countries recommend limiting vaccination due to the lack of the number of elderly people participating in the clinical trials of this vaccine compared to Pfizer and Modena. Korea’s Ministry of Food and Drug Safety also held an advisory meeting twice last week to allow the use of this vaccine in Korea, but it has held its judgment on whether to recommend vaccination for the elderly.

“It does not mean that it is not effective for the elderly, but it means that the results to determine the effect are insufficient, so it is necessary to make a careful decision.” “Probably this week, we will decide the contents of the approval through the final inspection committee of the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety. “I will decide whether to adjust the vaccination plan through the Vaccination Specialized Committee (later at the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention).”

The vaccine remains effective against the British mutant virus, but it is reported to academia that it is significantly less effective against the South African mutant virus. According to the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) on the 7th (local time), a clinical trial conducted by a research team at Oxford University in the UK and South Africa in 2026 patients showed that the vaccine’s effectiveness was only about 10%, and it could not prevent the onset of symptoms during infection. appear.

Nam Jae-hwan, a professor at the Catholic University’s Department of Medical Life Science, who attended the briefing as an expert panel, also said, “It is clear that the effect on the South African mutant (mutant virus) is ineffective. The amount of neutralizing antibody produced (neutralizing antibody price), an immune component that neutralizes the virus, drops from 60% to 20%. Professor Nam explained, “It means that 60% of the virus that came into the body was originally blocked (to prevent infection), but only 20% (the South African mutant virus) can be blocked.”

Professor Nam added, “I think it is a wise strategy to get the AstraZeneca vaccine as well, because the South African mutant in Korea is not very popular yet.”

AstraZeneca vaccine was confirmed to be 66% effective against existing viruses in clinical results. It is a method of inoculating twice at intervals of 4 to 12 weeks.

The possibility of introducing the Russian vaccine’Sputnik V’, which was reported in the medical journal Lancet, that 91.6% of the recent phase 3 clinical trial has been confirmed, is also open. On this day, when asked by the reporters whether to consider introducing other vaccines to replace AstraZeneca vaccine, including the Russian vaccine, Chung said, “The expression’replacement’ is not appropriate, but all vaccines, including Sputnik V, are open to potential. We are considering introducing it.”