Jeong Gi-seok "COVID-19 Deaths 100 Times Flu... Vaccination Rate Must Be Increased"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Young-won] Jeong Gi-seok, head of the COVID-19 Special Response Team (Chairman of the National Infectious Disease Crisis Response Advisory Committee), emphasized the importance of vaccination, noting that although COVID-19 deaths exceed those from the flu, vaccination rates are lagging behind.

At a briefing on the 14th, Jeong said, "As of today, the number of COVID-19 deaths this year is about 24,000, which is more than 100 times the average annual flu deaths of 210 from 2010 to 2019," and pointed out, "It is illogical to focus more on preventing the flu without preventing this disease."

Earlier, Jeong stated, "The flu vaccination rate for those aged 65 and older this year is high at 77%, but the winter vaccination rate is only 12%, which is worryingly low," adding, "In countries like the United States, the winter vaccination rate for those over 60 reaches 26%." He proposed that the vaccination rate target to be achieved should be at least the fourth dose rate, and for those over 70, it should be 100%.

He also emphasized that the transmissibility of COVID-19 is higher than that of the flu. Jeong said, "COVID-19 is a much more frightening infectious disease than the flu. Even if the fatality rates are considered low, its transmissibility is unprecedented," and explained, "It is reported that the flu does not infect more than three people per infected person at most, but COVID-19 can infect more than 15 people per infected individual, so reducing even one infection is a very important factor for social stabilization."

Jeong recommended vaccination from this week through next week, considering the time required to develop immunity after vaccination. He said, "Usually, it takes two weeks after vaccination for immunity to become sufficient," and added, "If COVID-19 vaccinations are done this week and next week, sufficient immunity can be obtained by late this month or early to mid-December, when a full-scale outbreak is expected."

The seasonal characteristic of winter was also cited as a reason for recommending vaccination. Jeong explained, "Some people expect winter to be fine because the summer outbreak reached 180,000 cases and passed well," but clarified, "However, in summer, other seasonal infectious diseases do not spread, so only COVID-19 is addressed, which is why there were no major problems." He added, "In winter, individual immunity to viruses is relatively weakened, so the risk of severe illness upon infection is high, and because flu and other diseases overlap, the likelihood of receiving proper treatment decreases."

Meanwhile, Jeong dismissed concerns related to clinical trials of the BA.4/5 bivalent vaccine. He explained, "The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety granted emergency approval based on the advisory committee's judgment that it is possible to extrapolate immunogenicity and safety data from the Omicron BA.1-based vaccine clinical results to the BA.4/5-based bivalent vaccine," and said, "If we think of vaccines as umbrellas used to avoid rain, BA.1 and BA.4/5 differ not in the shape or function of the umbrella but only in the shape of the handle, so there is no problem in avoiding the rain."

Furthermore, Jeong added, "Countries such as the United States, Canada, Japan, and various European countries have approved and are administering the BA.4/5 vaccine under the same conditions as our country without large-scale clinical trials."

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