Complete Primary Vaccination with Just One Dose of COVID-19 Bivalent Vaccine

The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency announced that starting from the 30th, the COVID-19 primary vaccination for those aged 12 and over will be switched to the BA.4/5-based bivalent vaccine, and the existing two-dose regimen will be shortened to a single dose.

Pfizer bivalent vaccine.

Accordingly, individuals who have not completed the primary vaccination with either the first or second dose can complete their primary vaccination by receiving one dose of the bivalent vaccine. Currently, there are 4.78 million people under 12 years old who have not completed the primary vaccination, among whom 780,000 are aged 60 or older.

However, for those who do not wish to receive an mRNA vaccine, recombinant vaccines such as Novavax and SKYCovione (SK Bioscience) can be used (two doses). The bivalent vaccine for ages 5 to 11 has not yet been introduced, but once it is introduced next month, it will be reflected in the implementation guidelines and administered accordingly.

Pre-booking for additional COVID-19 vaccinations for high-risk groups in the first half of the year began on the 29th. As of this date, 9,204 people have made reservations, and 6,930 have been vaccinated on the same day. The vaccination targets for the first half of the year are bivalent vaccine recipients who are ▲ immunocompromised individuals aged 12 and over ▲ and those aged 65 and over who are recommended for vaccination based on medical judgment. Vaccination is possible 3 months (90 days) after the last vaccination date, and the vaccine used will be the bivalent vaccine.

Ji Young-mi, Director of the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency, stated, "We have simplified the vaccination regimen to use vaccines that are highly effective against the currently circulating variants and reduced the number of doses to increase public participation. We ask for the active participation of those who have not yet completed their primary vaccination."

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