When Immunity Formation Is Difficult Through Vaccination
Preventive Effect by Directly Administering Antibodies into the Body
[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Young-won] Starting today, administration of the COVID-19 preventive antibody agent 'Evusheld' will begin for severely immunocompromised individuals and others.
On the 8th, the COVID-19 Vaccination Response Promotion Team announced that from this day forward, Evusheld administration will commence to protect severely immunocompromised individuals who are unlikely to form antibodies through vaccination.
Evusheld from AstraZeneca (AZ) is a preventive antibody agent administered via intramuscular injection to individuals who have difficulty forming immunity through COVID-19 vaccination due to immunosuppressive treatment or severe immunodeficiency symptoms, providing immediate preventive effects.
The target recipients are patients undergoing immunosuppressive treatment, including ▲hematologic cancer patients ▲organ transplant recipients ▲patients with congenital immunodeficiency. They must have no history of COVID-19 infection within 7 days prior to administration, be at least 12 years old, and weigh 40 kg or more.
If vaccinated against COVID-19, at least 14 days must have passed before receiving Evusheld. If additional COVID-19 vaccination is desired after Evusheld administration, it can be given regardless of the interval between doses.
Evusheld was introduced domestically through approval by the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety on June 30. Clinical trial results showed a 93% reduction in infection and a 50% reduction in severe cases and deaths upon administration. Notably, effectiveness was maintained against Omicron subvariants BA.4 and BA.5.
No significant safety issues have been identified. The most common reported adverse reaction was injection site reaction (2%), mostly mild (73%) or moderate (24%) in severity.
Evusheld can be administered at 35 designated tertiary hospitals, 99 general hospitals, and 76 hospitals. Medical staff must complete training on drug characteristics, target patients, injection methods, contraindications, and other administration guidelines.
When a patient requiring administration according to guidelines is identified, medical institutions can make reservations and applications through the COVID-19 Vaccination Management System. Upon receipt of the application, the local public health center verifies it and requests drug allocation from the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA). Accordingly, the KDCA allocates and delivers the drug to the medical institution before the scheduled administration date.
A representative from the Promotion Team stated, "While vaccination is primarily recommended for COVID-19 prevention in immunocompromised individuals, if antibody formation is unlikely even after vaccination, additional protective effects can be expected through the preventive antibody injection Evusheld. Since infection prevention effects are maintained against BA.4 and BA.5 variants, it will be an effective quarantine measure during resurgence situations."
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