Korea’s Disease Control Agency Addresses Concerns linking COVID-19 Vaccine to Increased Cancer Risk
The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) has issued a statement addressing a recent study suggesting a link between COVID-19 vaccination and an increased risk of cancer. The agency stated it is “difficult to prove causality” between vaccination and cancer advancement.
The response came following the publication of a Korean medical team’s paper in the international academic journal Biomarker Research on May 26th. The paper indicated a “critically important association” between COVID-19 vaccination and a heightened risk of developing six types of cancer: thyroid, stomach, colon, lung, breast, and prostate.
The study quickly gained international attention, garnering over 100,000 views and prompting approximately 1,300 comments on a related article published by the British Daily Mail.
During a regular briefing on June 13th, Lee Hye-rim, head of the KDCA’s vaccination management division, urged caution against overinterpretation of the study’s findings. “Cancer generally takes several years (to grow and be diagnosed) due to its pathogenesis, and it is difficult to say that cancer was caused by vaccination based on a study that observed only one year after vaccination,” she explained.
Lee further highlighted the established benefits of COVID-19 vaccination, stating, “On the other hand, the effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccination in preventing severe disease and death has been revealed for several years (results), and the reporting rate of adverse vaccination cases in the 2024-2025 season has continued to decrease for three years to about 5 cases per 100,000 people.” She also noted that most reported adverse events are mild.
The KDCA reiterated the importance of vaccination, notably for high-risk groups, to mitigate the risk of COVID-19 infection.
For the 2025-2026 season, the KDCA will offer COVID-19 vaccinations from June 15th to April 30th of next year to vulnerable populations, including individuals with weakened immune systems over six months old and those hospitalized or residing in infection-prone facilities. The vaccinations will utilize the updated LP.8.1 vaccine and can be administered concurrently with the influenza (flu) vaccine.
