Opening of the immunization committee and reviewing withholding
1 million people will be vaccinated in the first quarter
Pfizer vaccine introduction schedule confirmed
Vaccination of the AstraZeneca vaccine, which was put on hold for the elderly because the efficacy was not proven, among 780,000 people, or half of the 770,000 people who were first vaccinated against the new coronavirus infection (corona 19) vaccine in Korea Is expected to be attached.
The central quarantine countermeasures headquarters announced on the 9th that it will open a vaccination committee of the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) that decides whether to inoculate the AstraZeneca vaccine to 380,000 elderly people aged 65 or older on the 10th.
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As an opinion to allow vaccination for the elderly came out at the advisory group meeting held earlier, it is highly likely that the vaccination for the elderly will be confirmed by this vaccination committee. In this case, the vaccination of 376,000 residents and workers aged 65 or older in nursing hospitals and nursing facilities is expected to begin, and 1 million people are expected to finish the first vaccination within the first quarter of this year.
If the expert committee decides to inoculate the elderly, it is expected that the elderly will be inoculated with the AstraZeneca vaccine as early as next week. This is because the domestic approval process has already been completed, and vaccination is currently being performed in nursing hospitals and nursing facilities. By this day, 380,000 people, or about half of the 770,000 people who were eligible for the corona 19 vaccine, have completed the first vaccination, so the vaccination will be faster and 1 million people will be able to inoculate within this month.
The quarantine authorities said, “The efficacy of the AstraZeneca vaccine against the elderly over 65 years has not been sufficiently proven,” and decided to postpone the vaccine to residents and workers over 65 years of age in nursing hospitals and nursing facilities. However, as data has recently been pouring out in Scotland and England that the vaccine has a preventive effect on the elderly, foreign countries that have banned vaccination for the elderly are also changing their stance. In fact, European countries such as Germany and France recently decided to vaccinate the elderly people over the age of 65 with the AstraZeneca vaccine. In Korea, voices are constantly being raised that experts should consider’restrictions on vaccination for the elderly’.
If the Vaccination Specialist Committee allows the vaccination of AstraZeneca for the elderly, the number of targets for vaccination in the first quarter of this year will increase to 1146,000, adding 376,000 elderly people to the 770,000 originally announced by the government. Considering the characteristics of AstraZeneca vaccine, which can be stored at room temperature and can be vaccinated in nursing hospitals and nursing facilities, it is calculated that more than 1 million people can be vaccinated within this month. From the start of vaccination in Korea on the 26th of last month, the cumulative number of vaccinations in Korea for 11 days until this day was 38,3,346 in total, and 49.8% of the 777,65 priority vaccination subjects completed the first vaccination. Of these, 375,138 people received the AstraZeneca vaccine. Jung Eun-kyung, head of the central quarantine countermeasures, said the day before, “we are making a draft of the vaccination plan after March, including the supply of COVAX,” and “we will establish an inoculation plan as soon as possible.”
Meanwhile, the schedule for the introduction of the Pfizer vaccine was also confirmed. Yang Dong-gyo, head of the Corona 19 Vaccination Response Promotion Team, said at a regular briefing that day, “Pfizer vaccines will be introduced in 500,000 doses (250,000 people) each in the fourth and fifth weeks of this month.” AstraZeneca vaccine will also be introduced in an additional 345,000 doses (approximately 690,000 doses) this month through Cobax Facility. AstraZeneca vaccine is expected to be introduced for 700,000 people (1.41 million doses) by May, and 3 million people (6 million doses) for Pfizer vaccine will be introduced by the second quarter.
/ Reporter Woo Young-tak [email protected]
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