Government: "Janssen Vaccine to Be Decided as Future Vaccination Target After Expert and Committee Review"

by Seo Sojeong

Published 21 Apr.2021 15:41(KST)

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Seo So-jung] The government stated that it will refer to the European Medicines Agency (EMA)'s recommendation to resume vaccinations with the Janssen COVID-19 vaccine, which has raised concerns about thrombosis, when establishing future vaccination plans.

On the 21st, Hong Jeong-ik, head of the COVID-19 Vaccination Response Promotion Team's Vaccination Planning Team, said at a background briefing, "We are monitoring the reviews and actions taken by the EMA and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regarding concerns about thrombosis."

Hong explained, "Since the Janssen vaccine has not yet been used domestically, rather than urgently reviewing it, we plan to review the data, receive expert advisory meetings, and have the Vaccination Expert Committee deliberate to set the policy. Decisions on whether to limit the age of vaccination targets, how to select recipients, and to whom the vaccine will be allocated will be made through expert meetings and the expert committee's deliberations."

The government has secured 6 million doses of the Janssen vaccine and plans to sequentially introduce them domestically starting from the second quarter. The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety approved the domestic use of this vaccine on the 7th.

However, among more than 7 million Janssen vaccine recipients in the United States, eight individuals under the age of 60 were confirmed to have unusual thrombosis within three weeks after vaccination. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and FDA recommended a temporary suspension of the Janssen vaccine due to thrombosis concerns, and the CDC will hold an advisory committee meeting on the 23rd to decide on resuming vaccinations with this vaccine.