AZ New Vaccination Recipients, Vaccination Interval Shortened from 11 Weeks to 8 Weeks... "Existing Recipients Follow Original Schedule"

AstraZeneca COVID-19 Vaccine [Image Source=Reuters Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Chun-hee] An additional 2.02 million doses of the AstraZeneca (AZ) vaccine will be introduced by the end of next month. The quarantine authorities have decided to shorten the AZ vaccination interval from the current 11 weeks, which has been criticized as excessively long, to 8 weeks for new vaccine recipients starting this month.

On the 16th, Kwon Jun-wook, the 2nd Deputy Director of the Central Disease Control Headquarters, stated at the regular COVID-19 briefing, "1.188 million doses of AZ vaccine under individual contracts are scheduled to be supplied on the 18th." In addition, combined with 835,000 doses of AZ vaccine from the COVAX Facility expected to be introduced by next month at the latest, the total confirmed AZ vaccine doses to be introduced by the end of next month amount to 2.023 million doses.

Hong Jung-ik, head of the Vaccination Management Team at the COVID-19 Vaccination Response Promotion Group, said that most of the AZ vaccines arriving sequentially from the end of this month, including the 1.188 million doses arriving on the 18th, "will be used for the second doses of elderly people aged 60 to 74 who received their first dose in May and June." Additionally, these vaccines will be used for second AZ doses for those who are part of the ongoing first AZ - second Pfizer heterologous vaccination group but have declined to receive the Pfizer vaccine for their second dose.

On April 30th, President Moon Jae-in received the second dose of the AZ COVID-19 vaccine at a public health center in Jongno-gu, Seoul. [Image source=Yonhap News]

Meanwhile, the quarantine authorities recently reviewed measures to shorten the interval for the second AZ dose and announced that for those newly receiving the AZ vaccine this month, the vaccination interval will be advanced from the existing 11 weeks to 8 weeks.

Team leader Hong said, "For new AZ vaccine recipients aged 50 and over who start their first dose in July, we are currently scheduling their second dose appointments at 8 weeks instead of the current 11 weeks." New vaccine recipients, such as those newly admitted to nursing hospitals or facilities, will receive their second dose at an 8-week interval going forward.

Previously, the AZ vaccine interval had been continuously extended. Initially, the interval was 8 weeks, then increased to 10 weeks, and finally to 11 weeks. This was a measure to accelerate the first dose amid difficulties in vaccine supply during the early vaccination phase. Furthermore, research findings showing that longer intervals between AZ vaccine doses increase preventive effectiveness supported this approach.

However, this shortening of the vaccination interval applies only to new recipients starting vaccination this month. Team leader Hong stated, "The second dose vaccinations scheduled for this month are being conducted as heterologous vaccinations, so adjusting the vaccination schedule is not possible." He added, "Vaccinations for elderly people aged 60 to 74, mostly scheduled for August, are confirmed to be booked through the last week of August and are planned to proceed as scheduled."

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