Will the number of leftover vaccines increase... Vials to be opened regardless of number of reservations starting this month

Moderna COVID-19 Vaccine [Image Source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Chun-hee] The requirement that vaccination recipients must arrive at a medical institution with a minimum number of people before a vial could be opened will be eliminated. As a result, there is speculation that the amount of leftover vaccines may increase.

The COVID-19 Vaccination Response Promotion Team announced on the 1st through the "July Vaccination Detailed Implementation Plan" that starting this month, vials will be opened regardless of the number of reservation holders if there are any vaccination reservations.

Currently, for leftover vaccines inevitably remaining in the last opened vial during the COVID-19 vaccination process, medical institutions use their own standby lists and same-day rapid reservation services via social networking services (SNS) to allow willing individuals to receive vaccinations. The previous opening criteria per vaccine were 5 people for AstraZeneca (AZ) (based on 10 doses) and 2 people for Janssen (based on 5 doses), among others.

However, starting this month, if there is even one person with a same-day vaccination reservation who has not yet been vaccinated, the vial can be opened regardless of the number of reservation holders. The leftover vaccines generated will be registered on the SNS same-day rapid reservation service for vaccination. If leftover vaccines still occur despite using SNS, the medical institution will use its own standby list, including chronic patients receiving treatment at the institution and elderly people aged 60 or older, to administer vaccinations.

Regarding inquiries about whether the removal of the vaccine vial opening criteria will increase the amount of leftover vaccines, Jeong Eun-kyung, head of the Promotion Team (Director of the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency), explained, "We continue to guide minimizing leftover vaccines by recognizing leftover vaccines only in the last vial to improve usage efficiency," adding, "We expect the amount of discarded vaccines to remain low."

At vaccination centers administering Pfizer, Moderna, and others, leftover vaccine vaccinations using SNS are currently not conducted. Since leftover vaccines are rare at vaccination centers, leftover doses are administered according to standby candidate criteria such as center staff and support personnel on the day, as per current practice.

The Promotion Team plans to maintain this leftover vaccine vaccination method at vaccination centers for the time being. However, they plan to review the application of the SNS same-day rapid reservation service if necessary in the future.

An example of colors designated for each vaccine by the COVID-19 Vaccination Response Promotion Team to prevent vaccine misadministration. (Photo by Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency)

Additionally, the Promotion Team announced a separate plan for safe vaccination as large-scale vaccinations using multiple types of vaccines will be conducted for the general public starting this month. Currently, four types of vaccines are introduced and used for vaccination in Korea: AZ, Pfizer, Janssen, and Moderna.

Since various vaccines will be administered concurrently within the same entrusted medical institutions starting this month, urgent measures are needed to prevent incorrect vaccinations. According to the Promotion Team, as of the 29th of last month, out of 14,473 entrusted medical institutions nationwide, 13,251 have decided to use two or more types of vaccines for vaccination. Notably, 11,363 of these will administer three types of vaccines: AZ, Pfizer, and Moderna.

To this end, the Promotion Team operates the "Public-Private Council for Safe Vaccination" together with medical associations such as the Korean Medical Association, Korean Hospital Association, and Korean Nurses Association to establish measures to prevent incorrect vaccinations.

The core measure is assigning unique colors to each vaccine. AZ is designated white, Pfizer purple, Janssen blue, and Moderna red. Vaccination recipients receive a vaccine-specific identification tag in the corresponding color upon visiting the vaccination institution. The institution separates vaccination spaces and routes by vaccine type and distinguishes facilities and personnel accordingly. Related materials are marked with the vaccine-specific colors, and the pre-vaccination questionnaire and vaccination count also bear the corresponding colors.

If incorrect vaccinations occur despite these measures, criteria are established for local governments to take follow-up actions such as terminating entrusted contracts, reflecting factors like intentionality, gross negligence, and frequency of violations (recurrence). Simple errors or negligence result in warnings, but if warnings are issued three or more times or if incorrect vaccinations occur due to intentional or gross negligence, the entrusted contract will be terminated. Additionally, the incorrect vaccination reporting system will be improved to include immediate reporting upon occurrence and linked reports on the circumstances and follow-up measures.

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