Only '5' Vaccinations Administered in a Day... Vaccine Supply Shortage Expected to Ease This Week

Mapo COVID-19 Vaccination Center set up at Mapo-gu Residents' Sports Center in Mapo-gu, Seoul.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Chun-hee] On the 17th, the total number of COVID-19 vaccine recipients for both the first and second doses recorded 5 people. However, with the introduction of approximately 1.07 million doses of the AstraZeneca (AZ) vaccine, the vaccine supply shortage is expected to be resolved.

The COVID-19 Vaccination Response Promotion Team announced that as of midnight on that day, there were 5 new first-dose recipients. All of them received the Pfizer vaccine. Unlike Pfizer, which had 4,986 second-dose recipients, there were no second-dose recipients for AZ. The sharp decline in vaccine recipients on Monday was also observed on the 10th. On that day as well, only Pfizer vaccinations were administered, with 3 new first doses and 4,734 second doses.

Many entrusted medical institutions responsible for administering the AZ vaccine were closed on Sundays, reflecting a ‘weekend effect,’ but this is also interpreted as a temporary supply imbalance.

During the past week (from the 10th to the 16th), the average daily number of first-dose AZ vaccine recipients was 1,366. Compared to the period from April 26 to May 2, when the government was vigorously pursuing the goal of ‘achieving 3 million first-dose vaccinations’ with an average daily vaccination of 73,802, this is only about 1.85%. The government previously stated that when the time for the second dose of the COVID-19 vaccine arrives, it may significantly reduce or suspend first-dose vaccinations to focus on second-dose administration. This concern grew especially since around the 14th, when second-dose vaccinations for AZ recipients who started on February 26 began in earnest.

On the 14th, AstraZeneca vaccines shipped from the SK Bioscience factory in Andong, Gyeongbuk, are loaded onto transport vehicles and moved to the storage warehouse.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

However, this vaccination imbalance is expected to be resolved soon as the government introduced 1,068,000 doses of AZ vaccine directly imported, which were shipped from the SK Bioscience factory in Andong, Gyeongbuk, on the morning of that day, continuing the introduction of remaining vaccines for the second quarter. The total AZ vaccine doses scheduled for introduction in the second quarter amount to 7.23 million. Following the shipment of 597,000 doses on the 14th, a total of 1,665,000 doses have been shipped up to that day.

In addition, combining 430,000 doses of Pfizer vaccine and 835,000 doses of AZ vaccine introduced through the global vaccine procurement project ‘COVAX Facility’ over six days from the 12th to that day, approximately 3 million doses of vaccines have been introduced, significantly easing concerns about vaccine shortages.

The government’s position is that once the scheduled introductions of 5,565,000 doses of directly imported AZ vaccine, 4,126,000 doses of Pfizer, and COVAX (835,000 doses of AZ and 297,000 doses of Pfizer) are completed, the goal of 13 million first-dose vaccinations in the first half of the year can be fully achieved.

Son Young-rae, head of the Social Strategy Division at the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters, emphasized at a briefing on the 16th, "As the government has consistently declared, there is sufficient vaccine supply to vaccinate 13 million people by the end of June, and there is even a slight surplus. Now is the time to focus on administering the secured vaccines."

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