Corona vaccine comes in before the Lunar New Year… The amount of vaccination for February is ‘50,000 people +α’

Vaccination center layout (provided by the Ministry of Public Administration and Security)-A vaccine to prevent new coronavirus infection in Korea (Corona 19) will be introduced in Korea at the beginning of next month, before the Lunar New Year holiday. The amount to be introduced is estimated to be 50,000 Pfizer vaccines and part of AstraZeneca (AZ) vaccines through COVAX facility, an international vaccine procurement organization. Although the volume is small enough to allow only small-scale prioritized vaccinations, the vaccination business is expected to begin in earnest from February.

However, the quarantine authorities estimate that more than 70% of the population forms collective immunity around November. As the initial supply expected within 1Q is not large, full-scale vaccination can be expected only in 3Q.

According to the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasure Headquarters on the 22nd, the vaccines that are currently in the vaccination range are from Pfizer and AstraZeneca. Of these, Pfizer vaccines are expected to be available through COVAX separately from the amount the government has signed a pre-purchase contract.

In an online briefing on the 21st, Park Jong-hyun, the safety communication officer of the Ministry of Public Administration and Security, said, “At the beginning, the vaccine was scheduled to come in around the end of February, but it is more likely to come before the Lunar New Year. We are fully preparing for this to begin.” In the case of Pfizer vaccine, which will be introduced in early February through COVAX, it is expected that the vaccine will be given first to medical personnel working at the quarantine field. It can only be applied at vaccination centers separately prepared in regional university hospitals. The Ministry of Public Administration and Security plans to operate 250 vaccination centers. As of 6 p.m. on the 20th, 150 sites have been selected. As the AstraZeneca vaccine can be distributed at low temperatures, similar to the existing flu vaccine, it can be easily vaccinated at designated medical institutions at the local clinic level. Inoculation institutions are expected to be received by the Korea Disease Administration in the future.

The domestic approval of the two companies’ vaccines is expected to come out in late February or early March if additional data are expected to be submitted within this month. Unless there are any abnormalities, it is not expected to significantly affect the initiation schedule within the first quarter.

The problem is supply. The initial supply to be included in the vaccination business in the second quarter is expected to be about 50,000 people, which is 0.5% of the 10 million government applications for the Kovacs volume. Here, although the initial supply of AstraZeneca vaccine has not been confirmed, it is observed that it may reach less than 1 million people.

For this reason, even if vaccination is started from the end of February, the quarantine situation is not expected to change significantly. Wearing a mask and social distancing continues, and only some subjects who need first vaccination receive the vaccine in order.

In fact, the government is also setting a goal to form collective immunity by the fourth quarter, taking into account the volume of vaccines coming in quarterly.

Minister of Health and Welfare Kwon Deok-cheol said at a New Year’s press conference on the 21st, “Anthony Pouch, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases of the United States, is talking about 80% of the population with antibodies and 50% of experts.” (The vaccination rate) is expected to be 70%.” He added, “The vaccination is completed in the first September, and by November, 70% of the people are expected to form collective immunity.”

Corona 19 vaccines imported domestically are expected to be more than 76 million people manufactured by five multinational pharmaceutical companies such as AstraZeneca, Pfizer, Janssen, Modena, and NovaVax, but the supply is different by time.

When AstraZeneca and CoVax supply vaccines start inoculation in the first quarter, Janssen and Modena vaccines will begin supply in the second quarter. It is also scheduled that Pfizer vaccine, a pre-purchase contract, will be added in the third quarter. Eventually, in the third quarter, vaccines for each manufacturer will come in together and about 70% of the population can be vaccinated.

Minister Kwon Deok-cheol said, “It will be the same for Corona 19, like the flu that cannot escape even if there is a vaccine.” “Vaccination prevents infection, but it also has the effect of preventing high-risk patients from becoming severe. Said.

(Seoul = News 1)