Hamyang-gun Prepares for COVID-19 Vaccination Without Disruptions

Sequential Vaccination of Over 70% of Residents Aged 18 and Older
Goal to Achieve Herd Immunity by November Completion

Exterior view of Hamyang County Office

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Choi Soon-kyung] On the 22nd, Hamyang-gun, Gyeongnam announced that it will gradually implement COVID-19 vaccinations starting with elderly care facilities.

According to the county, COVID-19 vaccinations will be conducted targeting about 24,000 residents aged 18 and over, which is 70% of the population, aiming to achieve herd immunity by November to block transmission.

The county has first completed the formation of a task force to serve as the control tower for COVID-19 vaccination and to promote the vaccination process.

The task force consists of an administrative support team (overall implementation, personnel management, media publicity, transportation support for recipients) and an operational promotion team (overall implementation, vaccine supply, operation of vaccination institutions, recipient management, adverse reaction management) to ensure smooth vaccine administration.

Hamyang-gun Medical Association, emergency medical institutions, and seven local organizations have formed a regional council to lead public-private cooperation and are working to secure vaccination personnel.

According to the government's vaccine distribution plan, starting in early March, vaccinations with the AstraZeneca vaccine will be administered to about 400 residents and workers under 65 years old at 10 elderly care facilities. Considering the mobility difficulties of residents, both on-site visits and vaccinations at public health centers will be conducted simultaneously.

Subsequently, vaccinations will be sequentially expanded to high-risk medical institution workers and first responders to COVID-19 (epidemiological investigators, quarantine officers, specimen collectors, testers, transporters, 119 emergency medical teams, police, etc.).

Additionally, the county is diligently carrying out important preparations such as vaccine cold chain transportation and adverse reaction management plans, and is meticulously establishing a comprehensive vaccination plan to ensure safe vaccination.

They are currently selecting candidate vaccination centers for mRNA vaccines such as Pfizer (stored at 75℃±15℃) and Moderna (stored at -20℃), and plan to designate medical institutions capable of administering the viral vector AstraZeneca vaccine as entrusted medical institutions.

Vaccinations for the general public are scheduled to begin in the second half of the year (July).

The head of the county public health center stated, “We will do our best to block the spread of COVID-19 in the community so that we can return to ordinary daily life before COVID-19,” and added, “We will steadily proceed with preparations for COVID-19 vaccination to achieve successful herd immunity as early as possible.”

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