Disease Control Headquarters, Next Year's Budget 5.1362 Trillion Won... 83% Allocated for COVID-19 Response

Jung Eun-kyung, Commissioner of the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency [Photo by Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Chun-hee] The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency's (KDCA) budget for next year has been set at 5.1362 trillion won, which is 5.2 times higher than this year. Notably, 4.1408 trillion won of this will be directly allocated to COVID-19 response, and when combined with budgets for establishing infectious disease response systems and supporting vaccine research and development (R&D), the COVID-19 related budget accounts for 83% of the total.

Lee Sang-won, KDCA Crisis Response Analyst, stated on the 31st, "The 2022 KDCA budget is 5.1362 trillion won, an increase of 4.1445 trillion won compared to the 2021 main budget of 991.7 billion won."

The analyst explained, "In 2021, the budget for COVID-19 prevention and vaccination was allocated through reserve funds or supplementary budgets, but in 2022, it has been included in the main budget, which increased the size of the main budget. Including supplementary and reserve funds, the actual 2021 KDCA budget was 9.1689 trillion won."

Among this, the budget directly related to COVID-19 vaccination is 3.153 trillion won. The largest portion, 2.4079 trillion won, is allocated for purchasing 80 million doses of overseas vaccines and 10 million doses of domestically produced vaccines. Currently, for overseas vaccines, KDCA has secured 30 million doses of Pfizer and has an 'option' contract to purchase an additional 30 million doses if necessary.

The budget for domestic vaccine purchases had previously included 15 million doses (advance payment) in this year's supplementary budget, and the remaining payment for 10 million doses was allocated considering the possibility of success. However, it is still undecided which specific vaccines will be selected for purchase. Park Chan-soo, KDCA Planning and Finance Officer, explained, "The decision on which vaccines to purchase will be made considering clinical trial stages and development schedules."

Among domestic vaccines, SK Bioscience's synthetic antigen vaccine 'GBP510' is showing the fastest development speed, having started Phase 3 clinical trials just the day before. Additionally, a total of seven companies including Genexine, GeneOne Life Science, Cellid, UbioLogics, Curetis, and HK Inno.N are pursuing COVID-19 vaccine development.

On the 30th, at Dong-A University Hospital in Busan, the administration of the COVID-19 vaccine candidate 'GBP510' by SK Bioscience for phase 3 clinical trials is underway. (Photo by SK Bioscience)

Also included are implementation costs of 405.7 billion won for 45.15 million people receiving vaccinations at entrusted medical institutions, vaccine distribution management costs such as syringe purchases amounting to 128 billion won, and 12 billion won for compensation in case of adverse reactions.

Nearly 1 trillion won has been allocated for COVID-19 prevention efforts. This includes 496 billion won for diagnostic testing at screening clinics and temporary screening centers, 240.6 billion won for living support and paid leave for hospitalized and quarantined individuals, and 66 billion won for quarantine supplies, totaling 987.8 billion won.

This also includes 41.7 billion won for purchasing treatments for severe and mild to moderate cases and oral treatments due to the surge in COVID-19 cases. Park Chan-soo, Planning and Finance Officer, explained, "In the second supplementary budget in July, the budget for purchasing oral treatments for 18,000 people was included, and the current budget plan also includes funding for oral treatments for 20,000 people."

Beyond COVID-19 response, 871.7 billion won has been allocated for KDCA projects related to the prevention and management of endemic infectious diseases, chronic disease management, and health care R&D.

The national immunization program budget of 374.9 billion won includes expanding the target age for HPV vaccination for cervical cancer prevention from under 12 years old to under 17 years old, extending vaccination to low-income groups aged 18 to 26, and budget increases due to unit price hikes for influenza vaccines and implementation costs.

Additionally, 26.6 billion won has been allocated for infectious disease specialized hospitals, including construction costs for four currently under-construction sites and design costs for adding one more site. Furthermore, budgets for infectious disease prevention and management information systems have been increased, including 2.3 billion won for building an integrated quarantine information system and 1.9 billion won for maintaining the currently operating epidemiological investigation integrated information system.

A budget of 134.4 billion won has also been allocated for health care R&D such as vaccine development. This includes 7.3 billion won for infrastructure establishment like introducing platform-leading technology for messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) vaccines for rapid development against new infectious diseases including COVID-19 variants, 5 billion won for efficacy evaluation support of mRNA vaccines, and 6.7 billion won for supporting technology and convergence-type non-clinical research based on domestic pharmaceutical companies. In total, 19 billion won has been allocated specifically for mRNA vaccine-related budgets.

Jung Eun-kyung, KDCA Commissioner, said, "The 2022 government budget is the first budget prepared since the agency's establishment. We will strive to have it reflected as much as possible during the National Assembly review process, while also making every effort to prevent the ongoing spread of COVID-19 and ensure thorough vaccination in the second half of the year."