"93.1% of Baeksaegipja Vaccine Recipients Are Children and Adolescents"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Cho Hyun-ui] The government disclosed the discovery of white particles in flu vaccines only three days after receiving reports, during which time 9 out of 10 people vaccinated with the problematic vaccine were children and adolescents under 20 years old. Although it was concluded that the white particle vaccine posed no significant safety issues, the government’s delayed response has been criticized for causing people to receive vaccines they might not have needed.

According to data received on the 19th by Jeong Chun-sook, a member of the National Assembly’s Health and Welfare Committee from the Democratic Party of Korea, from the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency and others, a total of 6,897 people were vaccinated with the vaccine at 188 medical institutions across 12 cities and provinces nationwide between the 7th and 9th.

Among them, children and adolescents accounted for 93.1% of the total. The largest group was ages 0?10 with 5,415 people (78.5%), followed by ages 11?20 with 1,007 people (14.6%), people in their 30s with 240 (3.5%), 20s with 96 (1.4%), 40s with 74 (1.1%), 50s with 37 (0.5%), and 60 and older with 28 (0.1%).

By region, Jeonbuk had the highest number with 1,082, followed by Jeonnam (1,065), Gyeongbuk (950), Chungnam (878), Gyeonggi (685), Seoul (644), Gangwon (535), Gyeongnam (413), Ulsan (387), Jeju (230), Chungbuk (25), and Incheon (3).

The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety received a report around 2 p.m. on the 6th about white particles found in flu vaccines at a public health center in Yeongdeok-gun, Gyeongsangbuk-do. Subsequently, emergency tests on the vaccine, on-site investigations of the manufacturer, cold chain (refrigerated distribution) analysis, and expert consultations were conducted until the afternoon of the 9th. However, the public was only informed of this fact around 6 p.m. on the 9th.

The Ministry explained that the delay in disclosing the information was due to the time required to verify the type of white particles and whether the issue was limited to the specific health center based solely on photos submitted by the health center. They also explained that since the sealed packaging was intact, the particles were not due to external contamination but internal material aggregation, and that most of the fine particles confirmed under 37℃ conditions (room temperature exposure) were proteins.

Assembly member Jeong said, "The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety has been internationally recognized for systematic vaccine management, having been designated as a WHO entrusted testing agency since 2006, but this time it failed to properly manage the crisis and lost public trust. Considering the sensitive situation due to COVID-19 and the room temperature distribution of flu vaccines, the government should have proactively informed the public first, taken various response measures, and disclosed the results in detail."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.