COVID-19 Deaths Rise While Elderly Vaccination Rates Remain Low... Influenza Outbreak Also Spreading

Vaccination Rate Over 60s at 13%... Authorities Aim for 50% by Next Month 18
Flu Patients Increase for 4 Consecutive Weeks... Rise in Children, Adolescents, and Over 65s

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Jo In-kyung] As the 7th wave of COVID-19 re-surges in full swing, the number of critically ill patients and deaths is increasing, but the vaccination rate among the elderly is rising slowly. Seasonal influenza (flu) cases have also rapidly increased, exceeding twice the epidemic threshold.

According to the Central Disease Control Headquarters on the 18th, 67 people died from COVID-19 on the 16th alone, 20 more than the previous day (47), marking the highest number in 53 days since September 25 (73 deaths). Since the beginning of this month, a total of 688 people have died from COVID-19, with a daily average exceeding 40.

With 50,000 to 70,000 new confirmed cases occurring daily, the number of critically ill patients hospitalized has remained above 300 for two consecutive weeks. However, the winter vaccination rate for those aged 60 and over is only 11.4% of the population, and among those aged 60 and over who need additional vaccination after four months from their last vaccination date, the rate is just 13.2%. This is an increase of 2.4 percentage points compared to the rates of 9.6% and 10.8% recorded a week ago on the 10th.

The quarantine authorities plan to operate a 'Winter Intensive Vaccination Period' for four weeks until the 18th of next month, aiming to raise the vaccination rate of the elderly aged 60 and over to 50% and the vaccination rate in infection-vulnerable facilities to 60%.

Currently, among the approximately 13.74 million people aged 60 and over in Korea, about 11.8 million require additional vaccination after four months from their last vaccination date. Of these, half?5.9 million?excluding 1.17 million recently confirmed COVID-19 cases and 1.56 million who have already completed vaccination, about 3.17 million people need to complete vaccination within the next month to achieve the government’s target. This means that 140,000 to 150,000 people need to be vaccinated daily on weekdays. On the 15th, about 65,000 people aged 60 and over received the winter vaccine, and on the 16th, about 77,000 people were vaccinated.

Professor Eom Jung-sik of the Department of Infectious Diseases at Gachon University Gil Medical Center said, "With the peak of the re-surging wave expected at the end of this month or early next month, the timing to drive vaccination seems somewhat late," adding, "At the current vaccination rate, even if the scale of the epidemic is the same, the number of critically ill patients and deaths could increase."

＜ Influenza Suspected Cases Ratio by Age Group ＞

The flu epidemic is also continuing to spread. According to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency, the proportion of patients showing influenza-like symptoms (ILI rate) per 1,000 outpatients was 13.2 from the 6th to the 14th of this month (week 46 of 2022), an increase from 11.2 the previous week. This already far exceeds twice the 2022-2023 flu season epidemic threshold of 4.9 per 1,000.

The ILI rate has risen for four consecutive weeks since the second week of last month: 6.2 → 7.6 → 9.3 → 11.2 → 13.2 per 1,000. The epidemic is rapidly spreading among infants, children, and adolescents, with high infection rates, and the incidence rate among those aged 65 and over is also continuously increasing.

Professor Eom emphasized, "As influenza and respiratory infectious disease patients continue to occur and severe patients with cardiovascular diseases increase in winter, if this coincides with a surge in severe COVID-19 cases, intensive care unit beds could become severely insufficient," adding, "To minimize damage to the elderly, the government and medical community must now mobilize all possible strategies to raise vaccination rates."