BA.4/5 Vaccine Reservations 'Ranked 1st'↑... Available Stock is the Lowest

Double the BA.1 Vaccine Reservations as of 0:00 on the 17th
Stock Levels at Half for Moderna and Pfizer BA.1 Vaccines

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Young-won] Although it has been less than a week since the BA.4/5-based bivalent vaccine rollout began, it has emerged as the most preferred among the updated vaccines. However, the government currently holds the smallest stockpile among the updated vaccines.

According to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) on the 18th, as of midnight on the 17th, reservations for the winter COVID-19 vaccination showed Pfizer's BA.4/5 bivalent vaccine leading with 64,838 people. Moderna's BA.1 vaccine had 23,984 reservations, and Pfizer's BA.1 vaccine had 22,328, roughly half the number of BA.4/5 vaccine reservations. During the week from the 10th to the 16th, Pfizer's BA.4/5 vaccine had 274,334 reservations, nearly double those for Moderna (144,438) and Pfizer (154,980) BA.1 vaccines.

In cumulative reservations, Moderna's BA.1 vaccine, which began administration first on the 27th of last month, leads with 1,619,166 people. However, the BA.4/5 vaccine, which started the latest, has surpassed the BA.1 Pfizer vaccine's cumulative reservations (309,227) with 413,850 people. Pfizer's BA.1 vaccine rollout began on the 7th, and the BA.4/5 vaccine rollout started on the 14th.

The health authorities also reported an increase in vaccination reservations centered on the BA.4/5 bivalent vaccine. Baek Kyung-ran, commissioner of the KDCA, stated, "We believe the vaccination rate for the BA.4/5-based vaccine is progressing at a somewhat faster pace," adding, "This is presumed to be influenced by many people having previously received the Pfizer vaccine and those wanting to get vaccinated against the currently circulating variant."

While the BA.4/5 bivalent vaccine may boost the previously sluggish winter vaccination rate, the current vaccine stock is the smallest among the updated vaccines. As of the previous day, the BA.4/5 vaccine stock stood at 4,823,000 doses, about half of Moderna's BA.1 bivalent vaccine stock of 7,412,000 doses and Pfizer's BA.1 bivalent vaccine stock of 8,629,000 doses. The government plans to procure approximately 93 million additional COVID-19 vaccine doses this year, but the specific quantities by vaccine type have not been disclosed.

As the government intensifies vaccination efforts to prepare for the winter surge, public approval of the COVID-19 response appears to be declining. According to the National Barometer Survey (NBS) conducted by Embrain Public, K-stat Research, Korea Research, and Hankook Research from the 14th to the 16th, 48% of 1,007 men and women aged 18 and over evaluated the government's COVID-19 response as "(very) well," a 7 percentage point drop compared to the first week of this month. Positive evaluations of the government's response have been steadily decreasing since the third week of last month.

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