COVID-19 Vaccination After Q2 Next Year... Slowly After Confirming Side Effects (Comprehensive)

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Seo So-jeong] "It seems that COVID-19 vaccination in South Korea will be possible after the second quarter of next year."

On the 10th, Kwon Jun-wook, the 2nd Deputy Head of the Central Disease Control Headquarters (CDCH) at the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA), said at a regular briefing, "It is a good situation that the COVID-19 vaccine jointly developed by the American pharmaceutical company Pfizer and the German company BioNTech has shown over 90% efficacy in interim results of the Phase 3 clinical trials," but added, "However, since safety is the top priority for vaccines, we will comprehensively consider clinical trial results and adverse reactions after vaccination before implementing domestic vaccinations."

Deputy Head Kwon stated, "Side effects after vaccination are also very important, and some side effects may occur at a rate of one in 100,000 or one in 1,000,000 people," adding, "If South Korea continues to suppress COVID-19, an alternative could be to proceed with domestic vaccinations after other countries have completed vaccinations for 500,000 or 1,000,000 people and reported side effects."

In particular, Pfizer's vaccine uses the messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) method and must be distributed at ultra-low temperatures below minus 70 degrees Celsius. Regarding this, Deputy Head Kwon said, "Cold chain logistics are crucial for mRNA-based vaccines," and added, "By meticulously revising and supplementing vaccination strategies with domestic experts and ensuring the cold chain and various systems are fully prepared, we believe securing a vaccination schedule after the second quarter of next year is possible."

He explained, "Since the mRNA vaccine involves embedding RNA into an adenovirus itself, the vaccine is essentially ineffective if not kept at low temperatures," and said, "Various measures to maintain temperature are necessary, and even if some vaccinations are carried out, additional variables may arise during our vaccination process, so a very complex preparation process is required."

Deputy Head Kwon emphasized that the procurement of COVID-19 vaccines in South Korea is progressing smoothly as planned.

He explained, "South Korea's COVID-19 vaccine supply is proceeding through two main channels," adding, "We submitted a letter of commitment on October 9th and completed the advance payment to secure vaccines for about 10 million people (20% of the population) in 2021 through the international organization COVAX Facility." He continued, "The other track involves individual negotiations with global pharmaceutical companies, but since confidentiality agreements are in place, it is difficult to disclose details," and said, "Although it is hard to mention specific companies, we are in talks and serious discussions with companies worldwide that have entered Phase 3 clinical trials."

However, Deputy Head Kwon mentioned that even with the best efforts to secure advance purchases, time is needed before actual vaccinations can be administered to the public. He emphasized, "It is important to proceed slowly while checking for unexpected adverse reactions after 500,000 to 1,000,000 vaccinations in leading countries such as the United States and Germany," and added, "Confirming difficulties and issues in actual field vaccinations is much more important."

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