1.8 Million High-Risk Groups Begin 4th COVID-19 Vaccination... "No Plans for General Public"

Fourth Dose Vaccination for Immunocompromised and Long-Term Care Facility Residents
No Consideration for Linking Fourth Dose Vaccination of General Public with Vaccine Pass

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Ki Ha-young] The 4th dose of the COVID-19 vaccine will begin for immunocompromised individuals classified as high-risk and residents of long-term care hospitals and facilities.

The COVID-19 Vaccination Response Promotion Team announced this additional vaccination plan on the 14th. The target group includes about 1.3 million immunocompromised people who have completed the 3rd dose and about 500,000 residents and workers of long-term care hospitals and facilities.

4th Dose Focused on Immunocompromised and Long-term Care Hospital/Facility Residents

The Promotion Team explained that immunocompromised individuals have insufficient immune response due to underlying diseases or immunosuppressant use, and residents of long-term care hospitals and facilities are high-risk groups requiring protection due to both high infection risk (group living) and severe risk (elderly, underlying diseases).

Among immunocompromised individuals aged 18 and over who have completed the 3rd dose, vaccination is possible from 4 months (120 days) after the 3rd dose completion. Exceptionally, if personal reasons such as overseas travel, hospitalization, or treatment arise, vaccination can be administered from 3 months (90 days) after the 3rd dose completion. After confirming the doctor's opinion on eligibility for the 4th dose, vaccination will be given with an mRNA vaccine.

They can make same-day appointments by reserving leftover vaccines via KakaoTalk or Naver, or by adding their names to a standby list of medical institutions offering vaccinations by phone. From this day, reservations through the vaccine pre-booking website are also possible, with vaccination dates selectable from the 28th onward.

Starting from the first week of next month, the 4th dose will be sequentially administered to residents of long-term care hospitals and facilities aged 18 and over who have completed the 3rd dose. They can also receive the 4th dose from 4 months (120 days) after the 3rd dose.

However, if a cluster infection occurs or is likely to occur in the hospital or facility, an exception allows vaccination from 3 months (90 days) after the 3rd dose completion. Accordingly, if urgent quarantine measures are needed, the 4th dose can be administered immediately from this day.

No Plans to Consider 4th Dose for General Public... No Linkage with Vaccine Pass

However, there are currently no plans to consider the 4th dose for the general public. Jeong Eun-kyung, Commissioner of the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency, said, "We are not yet considering additional 4th doses for groups other than those announced today," adding, "We will continue to monitor the epidemic situation and the risk-benefit aspects to make decisions."

Regarding linkage with the vaccine pass, Commissioner Jeong responded, "Currently, since vaccination is being administered only to some high-risk groups, we are not considering linking it with the vaccine pass."

She also explained that there are no plans to consider a 5th dose after 4 months at this time. Commissioner Jeong said, "The post-Omicron wave quarantine situation could be an important variable. As immunity against overall infection increases after experiencing the Omicron variant to some extent, how the epidemic situation changes and the emergence of new variants other than Omicron remain uncertain and risky factors. Therefore, it is not a situation where we can consider a 5th dose yet."

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