Introducing the Corona 19 vaccine in earnest with the Pfizer vaccine’application for special import’… What is the first vaccination schedule?

Medical staff at the forefront of quarantine after mid-month
Target of completion of vaccination by medical staff within 8 weeks of 48,900 people
Pfizer-AstraZeneca-Jansen-Modena-Pfizer in order
To date, a total of 56 million people (excluding NovaVax) have been secured.

The vaccination plan for the realization of the’November collective immunity’ began in earnest as the government began the procedure for special importation of the Pfizer Corona 19 vaccine. The authorities plan to inoculate the vaccine, which will be supplied for the first time in Korea, to medical staff struggling at the forefront of quarantine.

According to the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on the 3rd, 117,000 doses of Pfizer vaccine (approximately 60,000 people), which will be supplied through the’CoVax Facility’ (an international project for joint purchase and distribution of vaccines), will be delivered to Korea through special import procedures. Comes in. Special import refers to a system that allows drugs that are not approved domestically to be imported from abroad to cope with national emergencies such as infectious diseases.

The decision to import special cases was made on the basis of the results of an expert advisory meeting the previous day in collaboration with the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety. 11 vaccine and clinical experts attending the advisory meeting, experts recommended by the Korean Medical Association, and others agreed that a special import of Pfizer vaccines to be received through COVAX should be made.

Experts made this decision in consideration of the fact that it has been approved for use by major countries such as the World Health Organization (WHO) and the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and the Korean Food and Drug Administration also participated in the WHO’s safety, efficacy, and quality evaluation as a cooperative review. I got off. When the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety deliberates on whether the import of Pfizer vaccine is appropriate through a related council, etc., and approves the special import, the import will be made. The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety is expected to approve special imports of Pfizer vaccines within this week.

◆Pfizer vaccine, vaccinated against Corona 19 medical staff after’special import’

The government will first inoculate the Pfizer vaccine, which will be brought in through this special import procedure, to medical staff, such as doctors, nurses, and hospital workers working at the forefront of COVID-19 quarantine. First, the medical staff who will receive the vaccine are 4,8900 people, including about 9900 doctors working in base hospitals and infectious disease hospitals, severe patient treatment beds, and life treatment centers, 29200 nurses, and 9800 other personnel.

When a specific vaccination target is determined, the vaccination center adjusts the schedule and receives the required amount of vaccination and performs vaccination. The first vaccination is expected to take place at the central vaccination center established at the National Medical Center in Jung-gu, Seoul. After that, when the vaccination centers for each region in Jungbu (Suncheonhyang University Cheonan Hospital), Honam (Chosun University Hospital), and Yeongnam (Yangsan Busan University Hospital) are prepared, local medical staff will receive vaccinations there. Although the vaccination interval or range of subjects has not been determined yet, the government plans to complete the vaccination by medical staff within 8 weeks from the first vaccination date, considering that the initial vaccination is most important.

◆The government spurs on securing manpower and checking distribution system to realize’November collective immunity’

With the first vaccination schedule for the Korean Corona 19 vaccine visible, the government is spurring the preparation of various vaccination conditions to realize the November collective immunity plan.

The Ministry of Health and Welfare held the first working-level meeting with the medical community on the previous day of the’Vaccination Protocol Joint Committee’, and discussed securing personnel and training for corona19 vaccination. At this meeting, the government and the medical community agreed that it is necessary to establish a comprehensive cooperative relationship between the medical community and each local government in order for vaccination to be successful, and decided to form a legislative council for each city, province, city, county, and district. decided.

The government plans to put public medical personnel such as health center medical personnel in the range (pool) required for vaccination centers, etc., but also includes private medical personnel with vaccination experience through cooperation with the medical community. The government and the medical community plan to form a pool of people with 120-150% of the required vaccination workforce. In addition, in order to reduce trial and error in the early stages of vaccination, guidelines related to corona 19 vaccination will be distributed to the field as soon as possible, and education and training will be systematically conducted for medical personnel.

The government also launched a simulation training to check the distribution and transportation system of the Corona 19 vaccine, where maintenance of the’cold chain’ (low temperature distribution system) is the key. This is to minimize trial and error that may occur when introducing the actual vaccine, and it is carried out from the 1st to this day. The government plans to check whether the cold chain is maintained and the crisis response system such as vaccine hijacking and vehicle accidents through simulation training conducted jointly by relevant ministries, and to compensate for insufficient situations. In the case of Pfizer vaccine, which will be introduced for the first time in Korea, storage and distribution at a cryogenic temperature of around -75 degrees Celsius is required. The government is also planning to conduct a mock training to check the manpower required at the Corona 19 vaccination center, the time required for each movement, and risk factors.

◆ Advised the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety to the’Central Pharmacy Review Board’ on the safety of AstraZeneca vaccine

The government is also reviewing the AstraZeneca vaccine (for about 750,000 people), which is expected to be supplied to Korea at the end of this month. The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety will hold a meeting of the’Central Pharmacy Review Committee’, a legal advisory body on the 4th, to consult on safety, effectiveness, and matters to be considered when permitting the AstraZeneca vaccine, including whether or not to inoculate the elderly.

The government plans to form collective immunity by November by sequentially inoculating AstraZeneca (1st quarter), Janssen-Modena (2nd quarter), and Pfizer (3rd quarter) vaccines, starting with the Pfizer vaccine that will be available through COVAX. Collective immunity means that a large number of citizens possess immunity against infectious diseases, thereby preventing large-scale transmission and thus indirectly protecting the people without immunity. The government believes that collective immunity can be realized when about 70% of the people possess corona19 antibodies. The total amount of vaccines secured so far is 56 million people (excluding NovaVax, before the contract was completed).

Reporter Kang-jin Lee [email protected]

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