Vaccine: Air Transport or Empty Hand?

Three Remaining Major Variables of COVID-19 Vaccine
Vaccination Rate · Budget · Side Effects
Concerns Over Avoidance Due to Short Clinical Trial Period
Additional Vaccination Budget Likely to Be Secured

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Dae-yeol] The blueprint for COVID-19 vaccination, considered the final key to ending the novel coronavirus infection, has been completed. Although concerns about delayed vaccination compared to other countries or timely supply have not completely disappeared, what is more important is to vaccinate as many people as possible within the shortest possible time after the introduction. This is because at least 60% of the population, 30 million people, need to have immunity to prevent the virus from spreading. The quarantine authorities have set the target to secure herd immunity by the third quarter of next year. We have examined the variables that are likely to arise by this coming fall.

"Vaccination at herd immunity level by 3rd quarter"
Jeong Eun-kyung's goal, is it achievable?

In the United States, where the spread is most severe, about 2.13 million people have been vaccinated in the two weeks since vaccination began on the 14th. Even considering that it is the early stage of introduction and that vaccines are being administered mainly to medical staff and elderly people in group facilities, this is just over 0.6% of the total population. At the current pace, it would take more than three years to exceed 60% of the entire population.

This is largely due to the difficulty in distribution, as the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines currently being administered must be stored at ultra-low temperatures. If easier-to-handle vaccines such as AstraZeneca or Janssen are distributed, there is room to accelerate the vaccination speed.

On the 21st (local time), a doctor at Hartford Hospital in Connecticut, USA, is receiving Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine.

The key is not how to establish the vaccine distribution network but how to get people to sit in front of doctors for vaccination. It is easy to understand when recalling that the influenza (flu) vaccination rate, which is distributed even to local clinics in Korea, remains at about half. Although the importance of flu vaccination has increased more than ever this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the flu vaccination rate is expected to remain similar to past levels. The government bore the vaccination costs for middle and high school students, some elderly, and vulnerable groups.

According to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency, the vaccination rate among national immunization program targets such as children, those aged 62 and over, pregnant women, and beneficiaries is about 71.1%. Considering that the vaccination rate among adults aged 19 and over who pay for vaccination remains around 30% annually, it is estimated that only about 23 million people, less than half of the total population, have received flu vaccinations. Although COVID-19 vaccines to be distributed in the future are likely to be free, physical accessibility is expected to be low, so actually getting people to receive the shots will not be easy.

President Moon Jae-in is presiding over a senior secretaries and aides meeting at the Blue House on the afternoon of the 28th.

Budget no one mentions, is it sufficient?
This year's supplementary budget and next year's contingency fund total 1.3 trillion won

The government has set aside 1.2561 trillion won to purchase foreign COVID-19 vaccines. Initially, the government did not include overseas vaccine purchase costs in next year's budget, but the National Assembly later allocated 900 billion won.

Typically, drug prices vary by market and country. Vaccine prices are not disclosed due to agreements with manufacturers. Assuming contracts were made at the European Union (EU) purchase prices recently leaked by mistake, the cost would be between 870 billion and 1.15 trillion won. There is variation because it has not been decided which vaccines to purchase through COVAX Facility.

The amounts roughly disclosed by each manufacturer are slightly higher. If the relatively cheaper AstraZeneca vaccine is chosen, it is expected to cost about 1.2 trillion won; if the more expensive Pfizer vaccine is selected, about 1.55 trillion won. Considering that COVAX is a project to widely distribute vaccines, it is unlikely that the price paid will be higher than this. Since the president and the ruling party have pledged to respond with full force, it is expected that there will be no major problems if other means such as contingency funds or supplementary budgets are mobilized.

On the 29th, when the number of new COVID-19 cases rose again to over 1,000 after three days, medical staff were collecting specimens at the temporary screening clinic at Seoul Station in Jung-gu, Seoul. The Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters announced that 1,046 new domestic cases were reported as of midnight that day. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

Short verification period and side effect concerns lead to vaccination avoidance
"Side effects in vaccinated countries are not at a level to be worried about"

Since the vaccines were developed in an ultra-short period, safety concerns have not been completely resolved. However, the medical community expects that short-term side effects can be sufficiently verified by observing overseas cases such as the United States and Europe, where vaccination recently began, for about two to three months. The problem is that a few rare cases are widely publicized, increasing resistance among general vaccination candidates. During the last flu vaccination, there was also a trend of reluctance due to problems in the distribution process.

Professor Kim Woo-joo of the Department of Infectious Diseases at Korea University Guro Hospital said, "In the United States and the United Kingdom, where vaccination has started, there have been some allergic reactions, which are anaphylaxis-like reactions caused by polyethylene glycol (PEG)." He added, "PEG is a substance widely used in shampoos, moisturizers, and medicines, so it is not expected to be a major problem."

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