June AZ Vaccine, Fewer Than Reserved... Authorities "Plan to Vaccinate All with LSD Syringes" (Update)

"'Squeezing' Syringes and Health Center Stockpiles to Be Utilized"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Ji-hee] The government has announced its intention to ensure that all individuals who have reserved AstraZeneca (AZ) COVID-19 vaccinations this month will receive their shots as scheduled. Although the supply of AZ vaccines this month is about 500,000 doses short of the number of pre-registered individuals, the government plans to proceed with vaccinations without disruption by utilizing low dead space (LDS) syringes and the stock held by public health centers.

On the 9th, Hong Jeong-ik, head of the COVID-19 Vaccination Management Team at the COVID-19 Vaccination Response Task Force, stated during a COVID-19 vaccine briefing regarding the vaccine shortage, "There is additional volume generated by using LDS syringes, so by administering the remaining doses, we can sufficiently vaccinate those who pre-registered. If the shortage is not resolved even with the use of LDS syringes, we will use the vaccines held by public health centers to buffer the supply and proceed with vaccinating all registrants by conserving leftover vaccines as much as possible."

According to the task force, over 5.5 million people aged 60 to 74, with a pre-registration rate exceeding 80%, have made reservations. However, the first-dose supply delivered to entrusted medical institutions is just over 5 million doses, resulting in a shortage of 500,000 doses.

Team leader Hong explained, "When calculating the vaccination volume, the effect of LDS syringes is not considered in the supply. The current 5 million doses are calculated based on 10 people per vaccine vial."

He added, "So far, medical institutions have vaccinated 610,000 people from the standby list by using the excess doses remaining after vaccinating 10 people per vial. The current shortage will also be supplemented with leftover doses in this way, but we will seek cooperation to ensure that the supply is allocated to pre-registered individuals as much as possible rather than the standby list."

However, if there are unavoidable cases where individuals cannot be vaccinated, the authorities plan to provide individual guidance and promptly reschedule. Team leader Hong said, "Since vaccine supply conditions may vary by region, if pre-registered individuals cannot receive their vaccinations, the authorities will not allow individual medical institutions to cancel appointments arbitrarily. Instead, the authorities will collectively notify changes to reservations and proceed by rescheduling vaccination appointments."

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