In order to “achieve 70% of the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine by Chuseok,” the government has adjusted the reservations for those aged 18 to 49 who have been vaccinated after the Chuseok holiday, so that their reservations can be advanced. This is because 70,000 doses of Moderna vaccine, which enter Korea sequentially by the first week of September, can be administered before Chuseok.
At the regular briefing of the Central Quarantine Countermeasures Headquarters held on the 24th, the Corona 19 Vaccination Response Promotion Team said, "In order to more quickly promote vaccinations for those aged 18 to 49 using the Moderna vaccine that will be introduced by the beginning of September, medical institutions after the 6th of the next month. We have expanded the number of people available for reservations.” Accordingly, those 18 to 49 years of age who have not yet made a reservation for vaccination or who have booked the first vaccination after Chuseok holiday may advance the vaccination date to between the 6th and 19th of the following month. there has been
Until now, most medical institutions for the period from the 6th to the 19th of the following month were able to make reservations only for the date after Chuseok. However, as the Moderna vaccine is expected to arrive by the beginning of September, more than 2 million more reservations can be made in the two weeks from the 6th to the 19th. Reservations for September 6-12 can be made by the 26th of this month, and reservations for September 13-19 can be made by the 2nd of the following month. Rebooking is possible only from September 6th because it takes time for Moderna vaccine to be delivered to each medical institution after it arrives.
If you are making a new reservation, you can select a date after September 6 on the Corona 19 vaccination advance reservation website. If you want to pull the already booked schedule, you need to cancel the existing reservation on the website and make a reservation again after September 6th by selecting the desired date and medical institution. However, the promotion team explained, "The number of reservations available for each medical institution may vary depending on the time of treatment or the number of existing reservations."
Due to the uncertainty in the supply of Moderna vaccines since last month, the government has extended the interval between the first and second vaccinations for 18-49 year-olds from four weeks to six weeks. The completion of the second inoculation to respond to the delta mutation was delayed by that much. So, attention was focused on whether to return the vaccination interval back to 4 weeks with this moderna vaccine volume, and the government first chose to raise the primary vaccination rate.
Opinions differ among experts on this decision. Jeong Jae-hoon, a professor at the Department of Preventive Medicine at Gachon University College of Medicine, said, "It is positive that the dose increases immediately.
However, critics are also criticizing that the government does not follow the principle that vaccination should be completed to people who are at high risk of developing severe cases of COVID-19, such as chronically ill patients or those with underlying diseases, because of the goal of achieving 70% primary vaccination before Chuseok. Professor Kim Woo-joo of the Department of Infectious Diseases at Korea University Guro Hospital said, "Even young people in their 20s are not free from the risk of delta mutation, with patients in their 20s dying one after another from COVID-19. As a rule, the three to four week interval between vaccinations should be kept," he said.
As the Moderna vaccine, introduced in the first week of September, is focused on the first vaccination in the second and third weeks of September, the government's target of 70% of the first dose before Chuseok is expected to be achieved without difficulty. Accordingly, the discussion of 'booster shot' (third vaccination) is also in full swing.
In foreign countries, the time of the booster shot is considered to be 5 to 6 months after the completion of the second vaccination. On the 23rd, Jung Eun-kyung, director of the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said, "(Booster shots) are necessary for high-risk groups" at a plenary meeting of the National Assembly's Health and Welfare Committee. Since we are coming back, we are considering boosting shots for them.” A specific booster shot inoculation plan is in the process of being established. Kim Ki-nam, head of the vaccination planning division of the promotion group, said, "Considering the risk of infection, the severity of infection, and the interval from the second vaccination, the high-risk group will be vaccinated first, and the plan will be announced separately."
Meanwhile, Bang Dae-bon compared the severity according to the vaccination history of 65,347 COVID-19 confirmed cases from May to July. As a result, it was analyzed that the vaccine had a severe preventive effect of 85.4% and a death prevention effect of 97.3%. Among confirmed cases, the severity of severity, which refers to the ratio of the number of patients with severe cases and deaths, showed a greater difference between those who were not vaccinated and those who completed vaccination as they got older. Among those 80 years of age or older, the severity of disease among unvaccinated patients was 24.71%, compared to 5.88% of those who completed vaccination. In the case of those in their 60s, the aggravation rate was 6.81% for those who were not vaccinated, but 0% for those who completed vaccination. In the younger generation under the age of 40, the rate of aggravation was close to 0% for both the primary and those who completed the vaccination. The effectiveness of vaccination in preventing severe progression has been confirmed once again.