Fourth vaccine jabs going to the most vulnerable

Social Affairs

Published: 14 Feb. 2022, 17:40 Updated: 14 Feb. 2022, 19:22

Fourth vaccine jabs going to the most vulnerable

Medical staff at a public health center in Gwangju check Novavax Covid-19 vaccines on Monday, when the country started rolling out the vaccine nationwide. [NEWS1]

Korea started giving fourth Covid-19 vaccine doses to people with weak immune systems, which will be extended to patients and employees at nursing hospitals in March.

“With Covid-19 patients aged 60 or older increasing again, the government is planning on giving fourth vaccine shots for the immunocompromised and patients at nursing hospitals,” Health Minister Kwon Deok-cheol said during a Covid-19 response meeting on Monday.

The shots started Monday at medical institutions nationwide. Patients will get a mRNA vaccine, Pfizer or Moderna, for their second booster.

Patients aged 60 and older accounted for 8 percent of total infections in the fourth week of January, which increased to 9.2 percent the following week and 11.7 percent in the second week of February, according to the health authorities.

“Three weeks after Omicron became the dominant strain, the number of infections has increased by 10 times, and recently reached 50,000 per day,” Kwon said. “About 6,000 people among the high-risk groups over 59 are newly infected every day, and the cumulative number of patients being treated at home has increased to over 230,000.”

All immunocompromised people over 17 — referring to those who have weak immune systems due to underlying diseases or taking immune-suppressing drugs — who have received a third dose can get a fourth.

They can try for a so-called leftover vaccine, which can be found on Kakao or Naver, or by calling medical facilities and getting the vaccine on the same day.

Reservations can also be made on the website (ncvr.kdca.go.kr), and appointment dates can be selected from Feb. 28.

Fourth vaccine shots will also be given to around 500,000 people aged over 17 admitted to or working at nursing hospitals starting from the first week of March.

People are eligible for a fourth vaccine four months or 120 days after receiving the third.

In the event of a cluster infection at a facility, fourth inoculations will be allowed after three months, or 90 days, starting Monday.

But authorities said they are not considering fourth vaccine shots for members of the general public yet.

“The inoculation of fourth vaccine shots was planned to be made on high-risk groups who are most vulnerable to severe illness and death from Omicron and Covid-19 variants, such as the immunocompromised and those at nursing hospitals,” said Jeong Eun-kyeong, commissioner of the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA).

“We are not considering administering fourth doses to other people,” she said.

Jeong added the authorities aren’t considering linking the fourth vaccination shots to the vaccine pass system.

Korea has set a six-month validity period for its vaccine passes, which are needed to enter facilities such as restaurants, cafes and gyms, making it beyond the reach of people who finished their two-dose vaccination course more than 180 days ago. They need to get a third shot, which makes their pass valid immediately.

“As we are currently inoculating only some among the high-risk groups [with a fourth shot], we are not considering linking [the record] with vaccine passes,” Jeong said.

With the fast-spreading Omicron variant, Korea’s daily new Covid-19 cases stayed in the 50,000s for another day on Monday.

Korea reported 54,619 new Covid-19 cases on Monday, raising the total caseload to 1,405,246, according to the KDCA.

With the rise in new infections among the elderly, the government is keeping a close eye on the increase in critically ill patients, which they believe will likely to start rising this week as two to three weeks have passed since the country saw a spike in Covid-19 cases.

The number of critical cases, which has stayed in the 200-range since Jan. 29, rose to 306 on Monday, exceeding 300 for the first time in 17 days. Around that time on Jan. 26, the country’s daily tally broke the 10,000 mark.

Covid-19 rapid antigen kits are produced at RapiGen in Suwon on Monday. [NEWS1]

To prevent a surge ahead of the upcoming spring semester in March, the education ministry prepared antivirus guidelines and said it is considering conducting rapid antigen tests on all students and teachers.

“We are reviewing conducting preemptive tests on kindergarten, elementary, middle and high school students, and faculty members before the new semester,” the ministry said in a press briefing on Monday.

A total of 6.92 million people, including all students and faculty members across the country, are subject to the preemptive test. Education authorities are reportedly considering testing students twice a week, and once a week for faculty members.

Last Friday, the Education Ministry announced it was discussing plans to distribute rapid antigen test kits for free to kindergarteners and elementary school students.

“We are discussing with district education offices the frequency of tests and the distribution plan of rapid antigen test kits,” an official at the ministry said. “As we have procured enough supplies through the government task force, we can supply [the kits] stably.”

The Ministry plans to announce the details of the guidelines around Wednesday once the specific budget is set aside.

BY SEO JI-EUN [seo.jieun1@joongang.co.kr]