High School Seniors and Teachers Receive Pfizer Vaccine... Daycare and 1st-2nd Grade Elementary Teachers to Get Vaccinated in May (Update)

Flexible Adjustment of Vaccination Interval to 8-12 Weeks... "Maximize First Dose Recipients"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Seo So-jeong] The vaccination schedule for workers providing care services to the elderly and disabled, as well as airline crew members, will be moved up to April. Vaccinations for kindergarten and daycare teachers, first and second grade elementary school teachers, and care personnel will be advanced to May, and vaccinations for high school seniors and teachers will be conducted during the summer vacation period in July and August.

Additionally, to respond flexibly to vaccine supply instability, the interval between the first and second doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine will be adjusted flexibly to 8?12 weeks, and the number of first-dose recipients will be maximized.

The COVID-19 Vaccination Response Promotion Team (led by Jung Eun-kyung) announced on the 1st that it will implement the vaccination plan with some modifications to the second quarter COVID-19 vaccination implementation plan.

Team leader Jung Eun-kyung said, "Globally, vaccine supply is insufficient, and recently the European Union (EU), India, and others have strengthened export restrictions on vaccines, increasing instability in the vaccine supply situation. Domestic supply delays are also occurring, so there is a growing need for efficient and effective use of the vaccines already secured."

The government plans to maximize the number of first-dose recipients through appropriate inventory management and flexible operation of vaccination intervals.

Jung explained, "Currently, the reservation standard for AstraZeneca is 10 weeks, but there is significant effectiveness even after the first dose, and evidence shows that a slightly longer interval increases preventive effects. Therefore, the interval will be flexibly operated between 8 and 12 weeks, and for those receiving the first dose recently, the vaccination schedule will be adjusted to 12 weeks."

Furthermore, to minimize vaccine wastage, Low Dead Space (LDS) syringes will be used, and the standby list will be operated as flexibly as possible to allow additional vaccination candidates to be added on-site.

Regional vaccination centers will be opened early by the end of April, with one center per city, county, or district, and weekend vaccinations will be enabled regionally. Some designated medical institutions (about 2 to 10 per city, county, or district) will also begin early operation in April to handle the increasing number of vaccinations.

The vaccination schedule for some second-quarter target groups will also be advanced.

Approximately 384,000 workers providing care services to the elderly and disabled will have their vaccination schedule moved up from June to April, with vaccinations conducted through designated medical institutions assigned by each city, county, or district.

About 4,943,000 elderly people aged 65 to 74 will begin vaccination in May.

Special education workers and health teachers in kindergartens and schools (49,000 people), as well as daycare center staff specializing in children with disabilities and nursing personnel (15,000 people), will be vaccinated starting from the 8th at health centers under their workplace jurisdiction. Vaccinations for kindergarten and daycare teachers, first and second grade elementary school teachers, and care personnel (491,000 people) will be advanced from June to May.

High school seniors and teachers will be included in the vaccination target group considering the risk of virus spread and the burden on quarantine measures due to nationwide movement for stable school education, university-specific exams (essay and interview), and the College Scholastic Ability Test (CSAT). Vaccinations will be conducted during the summer vacation using leftover Pfizer vaccine doses.

Vaccinations for 92,000 patients with chronic kidney disease, such as dialysis patients, will also be advanced to April. Considering the risk of severe progression upon infection, 12,000 patients with chronic severe respiratory diseases will be vaccinated through designated medical institutions in May.

Health care workers at clinics, dental and Korean medicine hospitals and clinics, and pharmacies (385,000 people) will begin vaccinations through designated medical institutions from mid-April, prioritizing those in occupations with frequent direct contact with patients or handling medical waste, such as patient transport.

Essential social personnel (802,000 people) such as police, coast guard, and firefighters will be vaccinated through designated medical institutions, and military personnel will be vaccinated at military bases and military hospitals in June. To block the inflow of overseas viruses, airline crew members (27,000 people) will have their vaccination schedule advanced to mid-April.

According to the Promotion Team, 18,088,000 doses of vaccines have been confirmed for introduction in the first half of the year, of which 2,691,000 doses were completed in the first quarter.

The confirmed quantity for the second quarter is at least 15,397,000 doses, with additional quantities under negotiation.

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