AZ·Janssen Remaining Vaccines for 60 and Older... Special Reasons Required to Shorten AZ Vaccination Interval (Update)

Medical Institutions' Preliminary List Operated Only for Those Aged 60 and Over Starting from the 4th

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[Asia Economy Reporter Seo So-jeong] From now on, remaining AstraZeneca (AZ) and Janssen vaccines will be prioritized for the elderly aged 60 and above.

The COVID-19 Vaccination Response Promotion Team (Director Jeong Eun-kyung) announced on the 2nd that, upon revising the vaccination guidelines for AstraZeneca entrusted medical institutions, additional doses generated from the minimum leftover dose (LSD) syringes must be administered first to those aged 60 to 74 who have pre-booked vaccinations in the first half of the year.

From the 4th, the creation of internal standby lists and vaccinations at medical institutions on the day will be operated exclusively for those aged 60 and above.

For the AstraZeneca vaccine, pre-booking for those aged 60 to 74 will be accepted until the 3rd, and vaccinations will be conducted until the 19th.

Hong Jeong-ik, head of the vaccination management team at the COVID-19 Vaccination Response Promotion Team, said, "If vaccines remain after the 19th and walk-in vaccinations or phone reservations are made, the process will proceed only for the elderly aged 60 and above."

Remaining Janssen vaccines will also be given priority to the elderly aged 60 and above.

Hong said, "The first priority for Janssen leftover vaccine vaccinations is the elderly aged 60 and above," adding, "We are considering prioritizing seniors and utilizing standby lists from entrusted medical institutions."

Hong also stated, "For 1 million doses of the Janssen vaccine, 900,000 people have pre-booked, and for the theoretically remaining 100,000 doses, entrusted medical institutions will seek consent from seniors aged 60 and above before administering the vaccine."

Additionally, it was decided that there will be no penalties for canceling after pre-booking the Janssen vaccine. Hong said, "Since the number of pre-booking targets for Janssen was 1 million, which is much smaller than the total target population, vaccine cancellers will not be penalized like other vaccine cancellers," and added, "We are guiding people to get vaccinated according to their age."

Furthermore, the interval between AstraZeneca vaccine doses can be adjusted within the recommended range of 8 to 12 weeks, but advancing it to within 4 to 8 weeks is not possible without unavoidable reasons.

Hong explained, "Although the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety approved the AstraZeneca vaccination interval as 4 to 12 weeks, adjustments can be made within the 8 to 12-week range according to the recommendation of the Vaccination Expert Committee," adding, "If there are special circumstances such as urgent travel, vaccination within 4 to 8 weeks is possible, but simple reasons like 'going on vacation' or 'wanting to get vaccinated quickly' are not acceptable for advancing the schedule."

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