First Vaccine Dose for 50,000 Medical Staff... 70% of the Entire Population to Complete Second Dose by November

10 Million Vaccinated in First Half of Year... First Dose Completion by September

[Asia Economy Reporter Seo So-jeong] The government will begin COVID-19 vaccinations next month targeting 50,000 workers at COVID-19 treatment hospitals.

From mid-March, vaccinations will start for ▲workers at high-risk medical institutions such as general hospitals ▲first responders including epidemiological investigators, totaling 500,000 people. Starting in May, vaccinations will be administered to ▲elderly home care and welfare facility users and workers ▲users and workers at facilities for the disabled and homeless ▲those aged 65 and older ▲healthcare workers at medical institutions and pharmacies excluded from the first quarter vaccination target, totaling 8.5 million people, aiming to complete vaccinations for 10 million people by the first half of the year.

From July, vaccinations will target adults with chronic diseases, essential personnel such as firefighters and police, and workers at education and childcare facilities. In the third quarter, when vaccine supply is concentrated, vaccinations for adults aged 19 to 64 will begin, with the goal of completing the second dose for 70% of the entire population by November, before the influenza season.

Initial vaccine supply of 50,000 doses allocated to infectious disease specialized hospital medical staff

The COVID-19 Vaccination Response Task Force (Director Jeong Eun-kyung) announced on the 28th, "To minimize deaths and block community transmission, COVID-19 vaccinations aiming to form herd immunity by November will be sequentially implemented starting in February."

The government will first vaccinate 50,000 doses of the initial vaccine supply arriving in February to workers at COVID-19 treatment hospitals. This includes staff at infectious disease specialized hospitals, hospitals operating severe patient treatment beds, and medical personnel at residential treatment centers.

Considering this is the first domestic vaccination, vaccinations will be conducted primarily for medical staff at infectious disease specialized hospitals and other medical institutions in the metropolitan area at the Central Vaccination Center established at the National Medical Center, a central infectious disease specialized hospital.

Subsequently, vaccinations will expand to three regional vaccination centers (central, Honam, Yeongnam regions' infectious disease specialized hospitals), and vaccines will be delivered to individual COVID-19 dedicated hospitals to allow medical institutions to conduct vaccinations independently.

Vaccinations will also be administered to residents and workers of nursing hospitals and nursing facilities. In these cases, medical institutions will conduct vaccinations independently, while nursing facilities will implement visiting vaccinations considering the mobility difficulties of residents.

The target will then expand to healthcare workers at medical institutions with many severe patients (tertiary general hospitals, general hospitals, etc.) and first responders to COVID-19 (119 ambulance teams, quarantine officers, epidemiological investigators, etc.).

In the second quarter, vaccinations will be administered to citizens aged 65 and older, residents and workers of elderly home care welfare facilities, and vulnerable facilities such as residential and usage facilities for the disabled. From the second half of the year, considering vaccine import schedules and the vaccination status in the first half, the vaccination target will be expanded to all citizens.

The government will allow vaccinations for urgent overseas travel due to essential official duties or important economic activities after strict procedures, while preparing measures to prevent misuse.

So far, the government has contracted to purchase a total of 56 million doses of various types of vaccines sufficient for nationwide vaccination through COVAX Facility and individual pharmaceutical companies (AstraZeneca, Janssen, Pfizer, Moderna). Additionally, to prepare for uncertain vaccine supply situations, contracts for 20 million doses with Novavax are underway.

By pharmaceutical company, AstraZeneca vaccines will be introduced from the first quarter, Janssen and Moderna from the second quarter, and Pfizer from the third quarter in stages. The supply timing and quantity of Pfizer and AstraZeneca vaccines scheduled to be introduced from the first quarter through COVAX will be finalized soon.

Vaccines introduced domestically through individual pharmaceutical companies will be reviewed for safety and efficacy by a dedicated review team at the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, undergoing a triple external expert advisory process before approval and release authorization. Vaccines introduced early through COVAX before individual vaccine approval will refer to the World Health Organization (WHO) emergency use authorization status, and the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency and Ministry of Food and Drug Safety will jointly review expert advice to consider special importation for domestic introduction.

Vaccinations administered at centers and medical institutions distinguished by vaccine type

Since COVID-19 vaccines have different storage and distribution conditions depending on the manufacturer and vaccination locations vary by vaccine type, a safe vaccine distribution and storage system will be established through a public-private-military joint effort. To this end, contracts with private companies have been signed for building distribution management systems (SK Bioscience) and expanding ultra-low temperature freezers (Daehan Scientific, Ilsin Biobase, Thermo Fisher Scientific), and phased preparations are underway.

Vaccinations will be conducted at vaccination centers (about 250 centers for mRNA vaccines) and entrusted medical institutions (about 10,000 for viral vector vaccines) depending on the vaccine type. For those with mobility difficulties such as residents of elderly nursing facilities and severely disabled facilities, mobile visiting vaccination teams will operate.

Vaccination centers (at city, county, district levels) will secure sufficient space such as large indoor gymnasiums or auditoriums in public facilities equipped with ultra-low temperature freezers, pre-screening and adverse reaction observation areas, separated flow and distancing, self-power generation facilities, and accessibility for the disabled.

A dedicated COVID-19 vaccination system will be established to provide vaccination-related information and operate a smooth pre-registration system. From the 1st of next month, vaccination-related information will be transparently provided through the COVID-19 vaccination website (http://ncv.kdca.go.kr), and from March, vaccination eligibility and pre-registration functions will be gradually expanded.

From April, vaccination timing, location, and precautions will be pre-notified through linkage with the Ministry of the Interior and Safety's National Secretary Service.

To prevent adverse reactions after vaccination, pre-screening must be conducted to confirm vaccination eligibility, and after vaccination, individuals should remain at the vaccination site for a certain period (15?30 minutes) to monitor for adverse reactions.

Rapid response teams jointly operated by local governments and private sectors and vaccination damage investigation teams will be in place. Cases where epidemiological investigations confirm causality between vaccination and adverse reactions will be compensated by the state under the "Vaccination Damage Compensation System," covering treatment costs, nursing fees, disability, and death lump-sum compensation.

Director Jeong Eun-kyung said, "COVID-19 vaccinations will proceed sequentially according to the national plan during this disaster situation, so we ask all citizens to participate in vaccination for the recovery of daily life everyone has been hoping for," adding, "Even after vaccinations begin, until herd immunity is formed, it is necessary to comply with quarantine rules such as wearing masks and social distancing."

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