Unvaccinated Over 60 Given Re-vaccination Opportunity... Pfizer for 75+, AZ for 60-74

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Chun-hee] Re-vaccination is being promoted for unvaccinated elderly people aged 60 and over who have not yet received the COVID-19 vaccine despite the high risk of severe illness and death from COVID-19 infection. The vaccines to be administered are the Pfizer vaccine for those aged 75 and over and the AZ vaccine for those aged 60 to 74, which were previously given to these age groups.

The COVID-19 Vaccination Response Promotion Team announced the 'COVID-19 Vaccination Implementation Plan for August-September' on the 30th. Jeong Eun-kyung, head of the promotion team (Director of the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency), said at a briefing that "considering the recent spread of COVID-19, we will continue to vaccinate unvaccinated elderly people to prevent severe illness and death, and administer second doses to those who received the first dose to increase the vaccination completion rate."

Currently, there are about 600,000 unvaccinated people aged 75 and over and about 1,269,000 aged 60 to 74, totaling approximately 1.87 million unvaccinated elderly. According to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency, the mortality or severe illness rate from COVID-19 infection is 0.2% for people in their 50s, but it rises sharply with age: 1.0% for those in their 60s, 5.5% for those in their 70s, and 18.5% for those aged 80 and over, indicating a very high risk of severe illness and death among the elderly.

Director Jeong stated, "We will continue to promote vaccination for unvaccinated people aged 60 and over through vaccination centers and designated medical institutions," and announced the policy to provide re-vaccination opportunities for them. This policy differs from the initial stance of offering re-vaccination opportunities only after the first-dose vaccination for the entire population was completed. Regarding this, Director Jeong explained, "In principle, vaccination opportunities are given to all citizens first, then to the unvaccinated," but added, "For the elderly aged 60 and over, the risk of severe illness or death upon infection is very high, so it is necessary to promptly complete vaccination for the elderly."

About 600,000 unvaccinated people aged 75 and over will receive the Pfizer vaccine. Vaccination is possible after individual reservations at vaccination centers, and there is no separate time limit for their vaccination. Director Jeong explained, "Vaccination for those aged 75 and over has never been stopped," adding, "We continue to provide vaccination guidance through individual reservations at vaccination centers, and vaccinations are ongoing, so vaccination is possible at any time."

Regarding the reason for using Pfizer instead of AZ, he explained, "The principle applied in the first half of the year for vaccination is currently applied to the first dose. For those aged 75 and over, vaccination is conducted with Pfizer, which was used in the first half of the year."

On the other hand, the 1.27 million unvaccinated people aged 60 to 74 must make reservations during the pre-booking period set from the 2nd to the 31st of next month to receive additional vaccination. They will all receive the AZ vaccine at public health centers. However, the interval between doses has been shortened from the previous 11 weeks to 8 weeks.

Director Jeong said, "For elderly people aged 60 to 74, there was no vaccination after the first half of the year except for vaccination with leftover vaccines," and added, "Starting in August, vaccination will be conducted again using the AZ vaccine, and we want to inform the public accordingly."

[Image source=Yonhap News]

If they still do not get vaccinated at this time, the vaccination opportunity will be postponed to the fourth quarter. Director Jeong said, "Once the first dose vaccination for 36 million people is completed by the third quarter, we plan to provide vaccination opportunities again to all unvaccinated people," adding that at this time, vaccination opportunities will be provided to all unvaccinated individuals regardless of the reason for non-vaccination.

However, even then, vaccine choice will not be granted. Vaccination will be conducted according to the vaccine type decided by health authorities based on vaccine supply conditions at each time.

Additionally, in the fourth quarter, vaccination will be promoted for pregnant women and children and adolescents under 18, who are currently excluded from vaccination targets. Director Jeong said, "We are currently analyzing safety, effectiveness, risks, and benefits, and gathering opinions from vaccination candidates to establish a vaccination plan," adding, "Since the number of vaccination candidates is not large, vaccination in the fourth quarter will be sufficiently possible."

Currently, the vaccination age for the Pfizer vaccine in Korea has been lowered to 12 years old, and Moderna has applied to the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety on the 27th to expand the approved vaccination age to 12 years and older through GC Green Cross. The health authorities plan to establish a vaccination plan for 2.77 million people aged 12 to 17 after expert review based on research projects and monitoring of overseas trends for children and adolescents. For pregnant women, they plan to prepare promotion measures through multifaceted review including analysis of overseas cases and gathering opinions from experts and the Korean Society of Obstetrics and Gynecology.

Booster shots (additional vaccinations) will also be promoted for high-risk groups such as the elderly and residents or inpatients of nursing hospitals and facilities. Director Jeong explained, "Regarding additional vaccinations, we are preparing a plan to administer additional vaccinations starting with high-risk groups based on domestic research, overseas cases, and expert consultation."

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