First Domestic Introduction of COVID-19 Vaccine for Ages 6 Months to 4 Years
Health Authorities "Vaccination Use Undecided... Discussion Planned"
[Asia Economy Reporter Yoon Seul-gi] COVID-19 vaccines for children under 5 years old will be introduced in South Korea. Specific vaccination plans have not yet been decided. The quarantine authorities plan to review the utilization after discussions.
According to the COVID-19 Vaccination Response Promotion Team, 400,000 doses of Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine (monovalent vaccine) for infants and toddlers (aged 6 months to 4 years) arrived in South Korea for the first time on the 12th. The product name is 'Comirnaty 0.1 mg/mL,' and the dose per administration is one-tenth of that for those aged 12 and older.
The issue is that even if introduced, the vaccination rate may not increase significantly due to reluctance toward vaccination. Previously, COVID-19 vaccination for children aged 5 to 11 began in March last year, but as of the 12th, only 31,218 children have completed the primary vaccination series. This corresponds to 1.1%. This is significantly lower compared to 89.9% (816,100 people) for ages 18-19 and 52.4% (1,471,018 people) for ages 12-17.
The United States, which started vaccinating infants and toddlers earlier, also did not see a significant increase in vaccination rates. The U.S. began COVID-19 vaccination in June last year, but only about 1.73 million infants and toddlers, approximately 10% of the total, have received at least one dose.
However, vaccine safety has already been proven. According to data submitted at the time of vaccine approval, a clinical trial was conducted on 4,526 individuals aged 6 months to 4 years in the U.S. The safety profile showed no significant difference between the vaccinated group of 3,013 who received three doses and the placebo group of 1,513.
Contrary to concerns, the younger the age group, the lower the rate of adverse reaction reports. According to the quarantine authorities, as of August last year, the total number of adverse reaction reports among those aged 5 to 18 was 21,131 (0.31%).
Among these, 96 cases were in the 5-11 age group, and 21,035 cases were in the 12-18 age group. Even if adverse reactions occur, most are common reactions such as injection site pain and headache that disappear within a few days. Among those aged 5 to 18, general adverse reactions accounted for 20,507 cases (97.0%), and serious adverse reactions accounted for 624 cases (3.0%).
Meanwhile, it has not yet been decided whether the domestically introduced vaccine will actually be used for vaccinating infants and toddlers. The Promotion Team stated, "The utilization of Pfizer vaccine for infants and toddlers will be discussed at expert advisory meetings and the Vaccination Specialist Committee," and added, "We will provide the results as soon as possible."
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
