"“BA.4/5 Vaccine Is Better, Right?”... Increasing Preference for Specific Vaccines Deepens"

BA.4/5 Vaccination Rate, Last Four Days: 54.2%→57.8%→65.3%→65.7%

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Byun Seon-jin] "Is it better to get the BA.4/5 booster rather than the BA.1 updated vaccine?"

On the 19th, Ms. A, a woman in her 30s with a child attending daycare, said through a parenting community that she was considering a third COVID-19 vaccination due to the resurgence of the virus. She asked which of the three updated vaccines currently used for winter vaccinations?Pfizer and Moderna BA.1 or Pfizer BA.4/5?she should receive. A comment replied, "The latest BA.4/5 seems better," to which Ms. A responded, "Good."

The preference for the BA.4/5 vaccine in the COVID-19 winter vaccination campaign is intensifying. As the Omicron variant BA.5 leads the domestic COVID-19 outbreak, more vaccine recipients are seeking the optimal vaccine to respond to it.

According to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency on the 22nd, among 563,028 people who received additional winter vaccinations from the 14th to the 20th, 317,716 received the Pfizer BA.4/5 updated vaccine. The 14th was the first day of BA.4/5 updated vaccine administration for adults aged 18 and over. 56.4% of the total chose the BA.4/5 updated vaccine rather than Moderna or Pfizer BA.1 updated vaccines.

The vaccination rate for the BA.4/5 updated vaccine has been increasing over the past four days: 54.2% (17th) → 57.8% (18th) → 65.3% (19th) → 65.7% (20th). Pfizer’s BA.4/5 updated vaccine has been shown to have 2.6 times higher infection prevention capability compared to existing vaccines. The domestic COVID-19 variant detection rate for the period from the 10th to the 17th shows BA.5 at 88.2%, making it the overwhelmingly dominant strain. This means the vaccination rate will inevitably continue to tilt toward the optimally responsive BA.4/5 updated vaccine.

Jung Ki-seok, Chair of the National Infectious Disease Crisis Response Advisory Committee and Head of the COVID-19 Special Response Team, explained at a regular briefing on the 21st, "The BA.4/5 updated vaccine targets the most prevalent coronavirus currently circulating in our country, so naturally, it is expected to be more effective among the updated vaccines." He added, "Of course, detailed information such as clinical outcomes needs to be reviewed, and we need to observe how the situation develops in Korea going forward."

Authorities: "Vaccination is more important than the type of updated vaccine... Vaccination rates among high-risk groups and facilities are too low"

Health authorities recommend updated vaccines over the original vaccines developed for the initial Wuhan strain but do not prioritize among the three updated vaccines. They emphasize the importance of getting vaccinated with any updated vaccine. A representative from the Central Disease Control Headquarters said, "It has been proven that updated vaccines are more effective than the original vaccines, but there is no significant difference in effectiveness among the updated vaccines. It is important to get vaccinated promptly during the winter resurgence."

As of midnight on the day, the additional winter vaccination rates were low: 17.6% for residents and workers in infection-vulnerable facilities and 17.3% for those aged 60 and over. Chair Jung urged, "Since the superiority of the updated vaccines is somewhat predictable, we strongly encourage high-risk groups to get vaccinated." During the ‘intensive vaccination period’ running until December 18, health authorities plan to raise vaccination rates to 50% for high-risk groups and 60% for residents and workers in infection-vulnerable facilities. Regarding vaccine safety, the adverse event reporting rate for the bivalent vaccine is 0.3 cases per 1,000 doses, lower than the 3.7 cases for existing vaccines. The government has started a ‘relay vaccination’ campaign involving high-ranking officials at the vice minister level and above to boost vaccine confidence and vaccination rates.

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