Prospects for Second Dose and First Dose Vaccination for Elderly
Resumption of New First Dose Pfizer Vaccinations
On the afternoon of the 14th, citizens who completed their vaccinations at the vaccination center in Seodaemun-gu, Seoul, are sitting and waiting in the observation area. [Image source=Yonhap News]
[Asia Economy Reporter Minwoo Lee] AstraZeneca (AZ) will supply an additional 1,068,000 doses (534,000 people) of its COVID-19 vaccine on the 17th. The first dose of the Pfizer vaccine, which had been virtually halted this month due to temporary supply-demand imbalance issues, will also resume from the 22nd.
On the 16th, the COVID-19 Vaccination Response Promotion Team announced in a reference document that 1,068,000 doses of AstraZeneca vaccine contracted individually for the second quarter will be shipped from SK Bioscience's Andong plant on the 17th and sequentially delivered to each entrusted medical institution. These vaccines are expected to be used for the second dose vaccinations resumed on the 14th and the first dose vaccinations for the elderly aged 60-74 starting on the 27th.
The government has a total of 7.23 million doses of AstraZeneca vaccine contracted directly for the second quarter. Including this batch, 1.665 million doses have been delivered. The remaining 5.565 million doses will also be sequentially introduced and used for COVID-19 vaccinations.
New first dose vaccinations with the Pfizer vaccine will be conducted nationwide for three weeks starting from the 22nd. The promotion team stated, "As planned, we focused on first dose vaccinations until last month and intensively carried out second dose vaccinations until the third week of this month. From the 22nd, we will again focus on first dose vaccinations and have requested local governments to assist in guiding unvaccinated consenting seniors aged 75 and over to their first dose vaccination schedules."
The target population for Pfizer vaccinations in the second quarter is approximately 3.67 million people, including 3.49 million aged 75 and over and 170,000 residents and workers in elderly care facilities. As of the 14th, 1.626 million people have completed their first dose.
Previously, the promotion team had suspended new first dose reservations considering the phased weekly supply of Pfizer vaccines and focused on second dose vaccinations from this month. Pfizer vaccines must be administered with a three-week interval. Typically, second dose vaccines are reserved after the first dose, but the government used all doses for first vaccinations initially and conducted second doses with vaccines introduced sequentially.
Meanwhile, the government has secured a total of 1.92 billion doses (99 million people) of vaccines so far. Through the international vaccine joint purchase project 'COVAX Facility,' 20 million doses (10 million people) were secured, and through individual contracts with pharmaceutical companies, 1.72 billion doses (89 million people) were secured.
The pharmaceutical company supplies include Pfizer 660 million doses (33 million people), AstraZeneca 200 million doses (10 million people), Janssen 6 million doses (6 million people), Moderna 400 million doses (20 million people), and Novavax 400 million doses (20 million people). Except for the Janssen vaccine, all others require two doses.
With the first dose vaccinations concentrated for three weeks starting from the 22nd, Pfizer vaccinations are expected to proceed by focusing again on second dose vaccinations from the second week of June.
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