Authorities Say "Vaccination Is Crucial for Preparing for a Resurgence"... Will There Be a 4th Dose for the Entire Population?

"Reemergence May Be Delayed Depending on Immune Status"

On the afternoon of February 14, when the fourth dose vaccination began for immunocompromised individuals among those who completed the third dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, medical staff at a hospital in Seoul administered the Novavax vaccine.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Jung-wan] The quarantine authorities emphasized the importance of vaccination strategies in preparation for the resurgence in the second half of the year. They are also considering whether to expand the fourth dose of vaccination to the entire population in the second half of this year, taking into account the domestic quarantine situation and domestic and international research results.

Im Sook-young, head of the Central Disease Control Headquarters (CDCH) Situation General Team, said at a briefing on the 21st, "If immunity declines rapidly, a resurgence can come quickly, but depending on the immunity situation, the resurgence may be delayed," adding, "I think the strategy for vaccination is very important."

She continued, "We will respond to and prepare for the future spread of the epidemic focusing on how to proceed with vaccination against the strains expected to circulate in the second half of the year, how to timely administer therapeutics, and strategies to strengthen surveillance of new variants."

Due to the effects of vaccination and the Omicron variant pandemic, the COVID-19 antibody positivity rate survey from January to April showed an antibody positivity rate of 94.9%. However, since the immune effect is expected to decline around autumn, the government is considering additional vaccination strategies.

Regarding the recent trend of increasing confirmed cases imported from overseas, Director Im said, "With the normalization of international flights, the number of overseas arrivals is increasing, leading to a slight rise in imported cases," and predicted, "Imported confirmed cases are expected to increase somewhat in proportion to the increase in arrivals."

She added, "To respond to this, we are maintaining the requirement for a pre-entry negative PCR test certificate and a PCR test within three days for overseas arrivals," and said, "Through this, we will delay overseas importation as much as possible and conduct thorough surveillance of variants."

Meanwhile, the quarantine authorities have been administering the fourth dose of vaccination to those aged 60 and over since April 14, and as of this day, 34.4% of the 12,153,926 eligible individuals have been vaccinated. According to the CDCH, compared to the third dose group, the fourth dose group showed a 20.3% effectiveness in preventing infection, 50.6% effectiveness in preventing severe illness, and 53.3% effectiveness in preventing death.

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