[Asia Economy Reporter Byeon Seon-jin] Jeong Gi-seok, Chair of the National Infectious Disease Crisis Response Advisory Committee and Head of the COVID-19 Special Response Team, stated on the 21st, "The fatality rate of COVID-19 is more than twice that of the flu, but because so many people are infected, the number of deaths exceeds 100 times that of the flu. We must not say 'It's all over now,'" urging people to get vaccinated.
At the regular briefing that day, Chair Jeong said, "COVID-19 is still a considerably dangerous infectious disease. The cumulative number of COVID-19 deaths has exceeded 30,000, which is more than 100 times the average annual number of flu patients over the past 10 years before COVID-19," he explained. He added, "While 77% of high-risk groups receive the flu vaccine, it is regrettable that the COVID-19 vaccination rate is still much lower."
Currently, about 90% of infections in South Korea are caused by the Omicron BA.5 variant. Chair Jeong stated, "Other variants are also mutating from BA.2 and BA.5, so in preparation for upcoming variants, the BA.4/5-based vaccine is very useful for us," emphasizing, "It is on a completely different level from the existing vaccines we had before. That is why we call it an updated vaccine."
Chair Jeong said, "The BA.4/5 updated vaccine targets the most prevalent coronavirus currently circulating in our country, so naturally, it is expected to be more effective among the updated vaccines," adding, "Of course, we need to see detailed clinical outcomes and observe how the situation develops in South Korea going forward," he explained. He continued, "For reference, Moderna has also developed a BA.4/5-based vaccine, which applied for emergency use authorization from the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency on the 9th, and the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety is currently reviewing the approval."
As of midnight that day, the additional winter vaccination rate for infection-vulnerable facilities was 17.6%, which is not significantly different from the 17.3% rate among the general high-risk group aged 60 and over. Regarding this, Chair Jeong said, "At least one out of every five deaths occurs in nursing hospitals and nursing homes," emphasizing, "Those responsible must actively protect infection-vulnerable facilities, which have a much higher fatality rate than the general population." He also stated, "The government, local governments, and managers of infection-vulnerable facilities such as nursing hospitals must make greater efforts to ensure that users and workers at these facilities receive the updated vaccine."
Chair Jeong presented research results showing that taking oral COVID-19 treatments can reduce the risk of severe illness and death by more than 40%, urging, "We need to increase the prescription rate further." He noted, "The prescription rate of oral treatments for those aged 60 and over has risen to 31.9% compared to last spring during the Omicron wave," but added, "It is still somewhat disappointing. At least half of the high-risk group and 100% of those aged 70 and over should be prescribed the treatment." Regarding medical staff, he emphasized, "If prescribing Paxlovid is difficult due to many contraindicated drugs, active prescription of Lagevrio should be encouraged."
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