[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Young-won] Considering the recent increase in confirmed cases and the rising reinfection rate, health authorities have recommended a third vaccination dose even for those with a history of infection.
The COVID-19 Vaccination Response Promotion Team announced on the 18th that, after deliberation by the COVID-19 Vaccination Expert Committee, the vaccination implementation criteria have been changed to recommend a third dose at least three months after confirmation of infection for high-risk groups aged 12 to 17 and adults aged 18 and over who are eligible for the third dose, even if they have a history of COVID-19 infection.
Previously, those with a history of COVID-19 infection were recommended to receive up to the second dose, and the third and fourth doses could be administered upon request.
The reason for changing the vaccination criteria is that recent analysis of domestic infections confirmed that the risk of reinfection and the risk of death after infection decrease as the number of vaccination doses increases.
The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency analyzed the risk of reinfection occurrence and death progression by vaccination dose among 17,781,756 individuals infected once (45 days after infection) and 84,646 individuals infected twice from January 2020 to the 16th of last month. Using the reinfection risk ratio of the unvaccinated group as the baseline (1), the risk ratio for those who completed the first dose was 0.99, for those who completed the second dose was 0.52, and for those who completed the third dose was 0.26. This means that the risk of reinfection for those who completed the second dose was 48% lower and for those who completed the third dose was 74% lower than that of the unvaccinated.
The risk of death progression also decreased as the number of vaccinations increased. For individuals infected once, the risk of death was reduced by 39% in the first dose group compared to the unvaccinated, 75% in the second dose group, and 96% in the third dose group. For those infected twice (reinfection), the risk of death progression was also lower by 65% in the first dose group, 81% in the second dose group, and 95% in the third dose group compared to the unvaccinated. However, even among those infected twice, the risk of death progression was 51% lower in the unvaccinated group than in the unvaccinated group infected once.
Overseas research results also showed that among people with a history of infection, those who received the third dose had more than 20% higher infection prevention effectiveness compared to the unvaccinated and those who received two doses.
The third dose vaccination implementation criteria will be applied from today. Those previously confirmed with COVID-19 can make reservations for the third dose through the existing online reservation website and call center, and same-day vaccination is also possible through leftover vaccine reservations or registration on the medical institution’s standby list.
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