Starting Tomorrow, Adolescents Can Receive Winter Season Quadrivalent Vaccine... 'Strongly Recommended' for High-Risk Groups

Basic Vaccination Completed for Ages 12-17, Advance Reservation and Same-Day Vaccination Available
Utilizing Pfizer BA.1 and BA.4/5 Vaccines

[Asia Economy Reporter Jo In-kyung] From the 12th, adolescents aged 12 to 17 who have completed the primary 1st and 2nd doses of the COVID-19 vaccine will also be able to receive the bivalent vaccine (updated vaccine).

According to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency on the 11th, from the 12th, the target group for the additional winter COVID-19 vaccination will be expanded from those aged 18 and older to those aged 12 and older. This measure is to protect the health of adolescents amid the ongoing winter resurgence of COVID-19 and the increase in various respiratory infectious diseases, including influenza.

The health authorities especially strongly recommend vaccination for high-risk adolescents such as immunocompromised individuals and those with underlying conditions who have a higher risk of severe illness or death from COVID-19 infection.

Since mid-October, when the winter resurgence began, the number of confirmed adolescent cases has steadily increased, with the COVID-19 incidence rate among teenagers rising from 430.7 per 100,000 in the 3rd week of October to 921.3 per 100,000 in the 5th week of November, more than doubling. Additionally, the recent estimated reinfection rate among adolescents is 17.65%, exceeding the overall age average of 13.29%.

The current vaccination rate among the 12 to 17 age group is 66.5% for the 2nd dose and 11.5% for the 3rd dose. The 3rd dose rate is significantly lower than that of people in their 20s (60.8%) and 30s (59.8%). It has already been a considerable time since the start of the 3rd dose for high-risk adolescents (March 14), and experts expect the safety of the bivalent vaccine for adolescents to be no different from that for adults, emphasizing the need for prompt vaccination.

This decision also took into account that major countries such as the United States are administering the bivalent vaccine to adolescents. Currently, the U.S. vaccinates children aged 5 and older, while the European Union (EU), the United Kingdom, Canada, and Japan vaccinate adolescents aged 12 and older with the bivalent vaccine.

The health authorities also explained, "Analysis of adverse events following vaccination in the U.S. showed that the safety of the bivalent vaccine for adolescents aged 12 to 17 is similar to that of the previous monovalent vaccine, and 94.3% of adverse events were common symptoms such as injection site pain."

The target group for adolescent bivalent vaccination is those aged 12 to 17 who have completed the primary vaccination (1st and 2nd doses), with at least 3 months having passed since the last vaccination or infection. The vaccines used will be Pfizer’s BA.1 and BA.4/5 bivalent vaccines authorized for those aged 12 and older. For those who do not wish to receive the messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccine, the recombinant vaccine (Novavax) is available. From the 12th, both advance reservations and same-day vaccinations will be possible, and reservation vaccinations will begin on the 19th.

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