hankyoreh

Health workers, paramedics and a woman carry out a COVID-19 vaccination dry-run Wednesday at a vaccination site in Gwangju Buk (North) District Athletic Center. (Yonhap News)

Amid increasing signs of a link between the COVID-19 vaccine produced by AstraZeneca and a rare type of blood clot, the South Korean government has decided to temporarily suspend AstraZeneca vaccinations for people below the age of 60. It has also tentatively postponed a program to inoculate nurses at daycares and schools and special education teachers that was supposed to begin Thursday.

This decision halts the government's recently adopted strategy of accelerating the vaccination time frame for the second quarter of the year.

The government team responsible for coordinating COVID-19 vaccinations said Wednesday that it had reached this decision through consultation with an advisory panel of COVID-19 vaccine experts.

The team's action follows growing concerns about the AstraZeneca vaccine's safety after a senior member of the European Medicines Agency (EMA) mentioned a link between the vaccine and a rare type of blood clot called cerebral venous sinus thrombosis (CVST).

South Korea plans to decide on its future vaccine policy after the EMA concludes the link between the AstraZeneca vaccine and the occurrence of the rare blood clots in a conference running through Friday.

On March 18, the EMA announced that the AstraZeneca vaccine was not connected to an overall increase in the risk of blood clots, but said it couldn't rule out a connection with the very rare CVST type of blood clot, which is accompanied by a low count of blood platelets. Since then, countries including Canada and Germany have stopped giving the AstraZeneca vaccine to people below 55-60.

"This is a preemptive measure taken to prioritize the safety of people being inoculated with the COVID-19 vaccine. We will take swift action following an in-depth discussion with domestic experts based on information released by the EMA," said Jung Eun-kyeong, commissioner of the Korean Disease Control and Prevention Agency.

By Seo Hye-mi, staff reporter

Please direct comments or questions to [english@hani.co.kr]