COVID-19 Vaccination for Children Aged 5-11 to Begin Late This Month (Comprehensive)

From Today, Hospital Rapid Antigen Test Confirmed Cases Accepted Without Additional PCR
Treatment Prescriptions Available for Positive Cases
Third Dose Vaccination Also Implemented for Ages 12-17

Minister of the Interior and Safety Jeon Hae-cheol (2nd Deputy Head of the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters) is speaking while presiding over the COVID-19 Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters meeting held on the 14th at the Seoul Situation Center of the Central Disaster and Safety Situation Room in the Government Seoul Office Building, Jongno-gu, Seoul. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

[Asia Economy Reporters Lim Cheol-young, Lee Gwan-ju] From the end of this month, children aged 5 to 11 will also receive the COVID-19 vaccine. Starting from the 14th, if a rapid antigen test at local clinics or hospitals shows a 'positive' result, it will be recognized as a confirmed case without the need for an additional polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test.

Jeon Hae-cheol, the 2nd Deputy Head of the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters (Minister of the Ministry of the Interior and Safety), stated, "The government will begin vaccinating children aged 5 to 11, who were previously excluded from the vaccination target, through about 1,200 designated entrusted medical institutions nationwide starting from the end of March." He added, "This decision was made considering that safety and efficacy have been sufficiently verified in overseas countries and that the proportion of confirmed cases under 11 years old exceeds 15% of the total confirmed cases."

Deputy Head Jeon also said, "The third dose vaccination for adolescents aged 12 to 17 will also begin today," and urged, "High-risk children and adolescents, including immunocompromised individuals, should actively participate in vaccination." He explained, "If the rapid antigen test result is positive, it will be recognized as a confirmed case without additional PCR testing. Through rapid confirmation, non-face-to-face medical treatment and prescription of therapeutics can be carried out early. We will strive to ensure that the 95,000 doses of oral therapeutics scheduled to be introduced in April are delivered in a timely manner."

Accordingly, for one month starting today, if a rapid antigen test is conducted and yields a positive result at any of the 7,732 local clinics and hospitals nationwide?including 459 respiratory-specialized clinics and 7,273 designated respiratory medical institutions?the individual will be classified as a confirmed COVID-19 case and immediately undergo isolation and home treatment. There is no need for a separate PCR test at public health centers, which will proceed with administrative procedures such as isolation notification, confirmed case investigation, and patient classification after receiving positive case reports from medical institutions.

This measure was primarily considered due to the PCR testing capacity not meeting demand. The maximum daily PCR testing capacity is 850,000 tests, but due to the surge in confirmed cases, 1.15 million tests were conducted on the 11th and 890,000 tests on the 12th. As a result, there has been an increase in cases where PCR test results are notified 2 to 3 days later. The quarantine authorities have also reduced some PCR testing for overseas arrivals, nursing hospitals, and the military. It is expected that using professional rapid antigen tests to confirm positive cases will significantly reduce the demand for PCR testing.

The biggest change is that if a person is tested and confirmed positive at a clinic or hospital, they can immediately be prescribed the oral therapeutic Paxlovid. The quarantine authorities have made it so that confirmed cases aged 60 and above can receive Paxlovid prescriptions immediately. Medical professionals report that Paxlovid administration plays a significant role in preventing severe illness in high-risk groups. The key factor is how quickly the medication can be administered. Paxlovid is most effective when taken within 3 days of symptom onset and should be taken within 5 days to expect efficacy.

Professor Jung Jae-hoon of the Department of Preventive Medicine at Gachon University College of Medicine said, "It appears that oral therapeutics play a decisive role in suppressing the number of critically ill patients compared to the expected curve," and added, "We need to prepare therapeutics that can be actively used during the outbreak in advance."

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