Nationwide vaccination at 9 o’clock tomorrow…”I hope now”

In Korea, the new coronavirus infection (Corona 19) vaccination is finally starting. Most developed countries abroad, such as a 90-year-old old man (UK), a nurse on the field of Corona 19 treatment (USA), and a doctor (Japan), have listed a symbolic person as the ‘1st inoculator’, but Korea’s 1st inoculation has not been selected.

On the 25th, the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said, “On the 26th, at 9 am, simultaneous vaccinations will begin nationwide and there is no separate’No. 1 vaccination’. Kyung-sil Chung, head of the vaccination management team of the Corona 19 Vaccination Response Promotion Team, at a briefing on the day, “The first vaccinations to be administered from tomorrow are not conducted in a specific area, hospital, or facility, but simultaneously, in nursing hospitals nationwide. “It seems that it makes sense to say that all are 1 vaccinations, rather than specifying the number 1 vaccination person, since both are carried out at the same time in the nursing facility and at the same time.”

Until now, the quarantine authorities have been struggling with the 1st inoculation staff, including the corona-dedicated treatment medical staff and nursing hospital staff. It is interpreted that the concept of the No. 1 inoculation itself has been eliminated as the political rivalry between the opposition and opposition parties intensified as a recent allegation of President Moon Jae-in’s No. 1 vaccination was raised. An official from the quarantine authorities said, “There were several candidates. Vaccination is an area of ​​science, and it has been too politically controversial. So it seems like this decision came out.”

The first vaccination starts at 9 am on the 26th at the same time in 17 cities and provinces nationwide. It’s all number one. In accordance with the February-March vaccination implementation plan, the promotion team proceeded with registration and consent procedures for vaccination targets through the Corona 19 vaccination management system. Hospitalization at 1657 nursing hospitals and 4156 nursing homes for the elderly ㆍOf the residents and workers, 289,000 agreed to vaccination, and the consent rate was 93.7%. Out of 143 hospitals that directly treat COVID-19 patients, including hospitals dedicated to infectious diseases, hospitals dedicated to bases, and hospitals that operate treatment beds for severely ill patients, 55,000 of the medical staff working at life treatment centers agreed to the vaccination, and the consent rate was 95.8%.

Vaccines are delivered directly from the distribution center to individual nursing hospitals, and vaccines for nursing facility residents and workers are first delivered to the public health center for storage, and then visited to the facility with the vaccine at the public health center, or the target person visits the public health center for vaccination. The nursing hospital completes the vaccination within 5 days after receiving the vaccine. The elderly care facility completes the first vaccination in March according to the schedule agreed with the public health center.

On the 26th, the first day of vaccination, 5266 residents and workers in 213 nursing facilities nationwide are inoculated. The 292 nursing hospitals that received the vaccine the day before will also receive vaccination within 5 days according to their own vaccination plan. Pfizer vaccines introduced through COVAX Facility, an international vaccine supply organization, will be provided to workers in the COVID-19 treatment hospital, and vaccinations for these will be completed by March 20. Pfizer vaccines will be delivered from the airport to 5 vaccination centers immediately upon arrival in Korea on the 26th, and will be delivered from the vaccination center to 82 vaccination centers from March 8. In the first week, vaccinations are conducted at the Central Vaccination Center of the National Medical Center, and the medical staff of the regional and regional vaccination centers are visited and trained. In the second week, vaccination will be expanded to a regional vaccination center, and there will be visit education for the medical staff of the in-house vaccination medical institution in the region. On the 27th, the first day of vaccination, 199 workers at the National Medical Center and 101 workers at the hospital for treating COVID-19 patients in the metropolitan area will receive vaccinations at the Central Vaccination Center. The total number of vaccinations is 300.

Most of the vaccinations given on the first day of vaccination are medical staff and nursing facility staff. Expectations and anxiety of those who are about to be vaccinated are growing at the same time. Kim Shin-beom (44), who decided to get the vaccine on the first day of vaccination, expressed expectations, saying, “I only hope that I can get hit quickly and return to my daily life.” He is a nursing facility worker working at Yurinwon Gwangsan Nursing Home in Jungnang-gu, Seoul. On the morning of the 26th, Kim gets a vaccine at the Jungnang-gu Health Center in Seoul. He was told to come to the public health center by 8:45 am. He said, “I worked at a nursing facility, and there were a few cases where my close friend’s parents died, but I couldn’t even visit them.” “Every time I was really bad, but the elderly in the nursing home had poor immunity, so I had to be careful about what I thought. Said. He added, “I hope that I will never have this kind of sorry for getting the vaccine as soon as possible.”

Lee Mo (63), a nursing care provider who was selected as the’No. 1 inoculation’ in Jungnang-gu, expressed his expectation that “I can only see the light of hope in a dark and desperate situation.”

Mr. Kim, 34, from a nursing hospital in the metropolitan area, who is scheduled to be vaccinated on the 2nd of next month, said, “We are joking about why it is not a’Pfizer’ or’Modena’ vaccine, but even if there is a little anxiety, I want it to end sooner. “I think it’s a flu vaccination, and if I get it, I think I’ll be less worried about Corona 19 in the future.”

Some voices express anxiety about being the first target for vaccination in Korea. Kang Mo (59), who works at a nursing facility in Incheon, said, “I don’t want to fit, but I can’t fit it, so I’m right.” “The nursing facility is said to be dangerous, but it would be relieved if high-ranking people showed it first. I think it’s like to see.” He said, “I agreed that I would be penalized after refusing until the end, and I decided to get the vaccination early next month.”

Reporter Esther and Jeong Jin-ho [email protected]