'Uncertain Vaccine Supply' Vaccination Plan for People in Their 50s Changed Again... Will Vaccinations for Ages 18-49 Also Be Delayed?

50s Vaccination to Use 'Moderna + Pfizer' Combination
Domestic Vaccine Supply Shortage Continues into 5th Month
Vaccination Deadline for 50s Extended from August 25 to 28

Vaccination for Under 40s Scheduled for Mid to Late Next Month Faces 'Uncertainty'

On the 19th, when the 'Vaccination for 3rd-year high school students and high school staff' began, a 3rd-year high school student is receiving a vaccine at Haenuri Town in Yangcheon-gu, Seoul. July 19, 2021. Photo by Joint Press Corps

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Ji-hee] As the supply of COVID-19 vaccines becomes unstable, the vaccination plan for people in their 50s has been revised once again. Starting from the 26th of this month, Pfizer vaccines will be partially used in addition to the originally planned Moderna vaccines for the 50s age group, and the vaccination deadline, which was until the 25th of next month, has been extended to the 28th. The vaccine shortage, which has been a bottleneck since the start of domestic vaccinations, has not been resolved even after five months of vaccinations, raising concerns that the large-scale vaccination planned for people aged 18 to 49 in mid to late August may also be delayed.

According to the COVID-19 Vaccination Response Promotion Team (Promotion Team) on the 20th, COVID-19 vaccinations for pre-registered individuals in their 50s will be conducted from the 26th of this month to the 28th of next month. The vaccination schedule for people in their 50s was originally planned as July 26 to August 25 for those aged 55-59, and August 16 to 25 for those aged 50-54, but the deadline has been pushed back by three days. The authorities explained that this is to appropriately respond to the supply situation of Moderna vaccines and to proceed with vaccinations stably. Jeong Eun-kyung, Director of the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency, explained the background by saying, "The total amount of Moderna vaccines to be introduced has not changed, but the weekly supply schedule has been altered."

This is not the first time the vaccination plan for people in their 50s has been adjusted. The government previously suddenly suspended pre-registration for those aged 55-59 and resumed it after three days. At the same time, the vaccination schedule for those aged 50-54, originally planned for August 9-21, was postponed by one week to August 16-25. All these changes were due to uncertainties in the schedule for the introduction of Moderna vaccines.

The total number of vaccines to be introduced this month is 10.7 million doses, including 700,000 doses from a swap agreement with Israel. However, as of this day, the vaccines received so far are 750,000 doses of Moderna, 2.13 million doses of Pfizer, and 1.188 million doses of AstraZeneca. More than approximately 6.63 million doses need to be supplied in the remaining ten days.

As vaccine supply continues to face setbacks, there is growing concern that vaccinations for those under 40, which include the largest number of people ever, may also be delayed. In particular, concerns about vaccination delays have increased as Pfizer vaccines, originally secured for August vaccinations, have been newly allocated to people in their 50s. Vaccines for workplace vaccinations at major companies are also being changed one after another from Moderna to Pfizer. Earlier in the first half of the year, there were continuous issues such as delays in vaccinations for some people aged 60 and over due to vaccine shortages and sudden decisions to implement mixed vaccinations.

With the fourth wave of the pandemic, many in the target vaccination groups have expressed willingness to get vaccinated, and pre-registration rates are increasing, but health authorities are still struggling. As of the previous day, 81.4% of this month's vaccination targets had completed pre-registration. Reflecting the increased willingness to get vaccinated, a large number of people rushed to book vaccinations early after the start of pre-registration, causing repeated issues with access to the reservation site. Even the previous day, pre-registration was opened for those aged 53-54 by splitting the target group, but the 'system crash' could not be prevented. The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency stated, "The cloud server could not handle simultaneous users at 8 p.m. the previous day, causing access issues, so we have promoted the adoption of cloud services," and added, "Pre-registration for those aged 50-52 starting on the 20th will proceed while maintaining the expanded cloud server capacity installed the previous day."

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