hankyoreh

A notice about COVID-19 is posted in front of the emergency room at Soon Chun Hyang University Hospital in Seoul’s Yongsan District on the morning of Feb. 21. As the number of COVID-19 cases linked to it steadily climbed, the hospital temporarily suspended outpatient treatment through Feb. 21. (Baek So-ah, staff photographer)

The administration of COVID-19 vaccines to South Korean healthcare workers is scheduled to begin on Feb. 27, following the launch of the first inoculations of nursing hospital and home residents and staff under 65 years of age on Feb. 26.

In practice, this signals the launch of vaccinations of over 340,000 people, with 94% of those eligible for the first round of vaccinations stating that they are willing to receive the jabs.

Noting the possibility of a lower rate of willingness among lower-priority recipients, experts are saying the South Korean government should work on tightly managing its initial vaccine administration schedule and sharing information in a transparent manner.

At a Feb. 21 meeting of the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters, Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun said, “We’re counting down now to the first COVID-19 vaccinations.”

“The first inoculations will be taking place on Feb. 26 at nursing homes and retirement homes with domestically produced AstraZeneca vaccine,” he explained.

Chung went on to say that “117,000 doses of Pfizer vaccine [enough for 58,500 people] will be arriving in South Korea the same day [on Feb. 26] from the COVAX Facility.”

“Staff will begin administering these doses immediately on Feb. 27 to healthcare workers treating COVID-19 patients,” he said.

According to South Korea’s Central Disease Control Headquarters, 344,181 people will be receiving the COVID-19 vaccine in the first round of inoculation. That’s the number who’d agree to receive the vaccine through Feb. 19, representing 93.8% of the 366,959 people who were originally registered for the first round.

The rate of acceptance was 92.7% among residents and employees at nursing homes and a little higher — 95.5% — at facilities housing the elderly, people with psychiatric issues and people in rehab. There was an acceptance rate of 94.6%, or 54,910 people, at hospitals treating patients with COVID-19.

Some of those who refused to accept the vaccine cited the controversy over the efficacy of the AstraZeneca vaccine on elderly people. The head of a nursing home in Gyeonggi Province where about 120 people will receive the AstraZeneca vaccine told the Hankyoreh that one patient had refused because of concerns about the vaccine, and three employees had refused because they’d experienced allergic reactions to previous vaccines.

Those who turn down the vaccine when it’s their turn will be moved to the back of the line and won’t be eligible for inoculation until after November, when the entire public has gone through the first round of vaccination.

“We plan to keep things open so that people who change their mind on the day of the inoculation can be added [to the list],” said Jung Gyeong-sil, head of inoculation management for the government body organizing the COVID-19 vaccination campaign.

Now that the schedule of the first round of inoculation and the list of people to be inoculated have been confirmed, the government is moving ahead with preparations for shipping the vaccines. The AstraZeneca vaccine will be sent from the SK Bioscience factory in Andong, North Gyeongsang Province, to nursing homes and community health centers around the country on Feb. 25, while the Pfizer vaccine will be immediately sent to five inoculation centers following its arrival at Incheon Airport at 12:10 pm on Feb. 26.

Nursing homes are required to complete their inoculations within six days of receiving the shipment of vaccines. The Pfizer vaccine will be administered first to medical staff handling COVID-19 at the central inoculation center, and then to staff at the hospitals responsible for treating infectious diseases. The South Korean government plans to complete the first round of inoculation in March.

Registration and consent for the second round of inoculation — which is supposed to cover employees at medium-sized and large hospitals, employees and residents at psychiatric hospitals with closed wards, and COVID-19 first responders — will wrap up on Feb. 28. The goal is to complete this second round in March as well.

“The rate of consent for inoculation has been pretty high, despite our concerns,” said Choi Won-seok, a professor of infectious disease at Korea University Ansan Hospital.

On a cautious note, he added, “Once inoculation actually begins, we could see the kind of issues we had when the flu vaccine was being administered last year. The government will have to communicate effectively with the public if it wants to raise the inoculation rate.”

Choi said the government will have to respond nimbly to unforeseen eventualities — such as unconfirmed rumors about adverse reactions to COVID-19 vaccination — in order to keep the inoculation rate from falling.

Seoul hasn’t announced who will be the country’s first recipient of the COVID-19 vaccine, but plans to do so on Feb. 25 or 26.

In an appearance on KBS on Feb. 21, Minister of Health and Welfare Kwon Deok-cheol swatted down a suggestion made by some in the opposition party that South Korean President Moon Jae-in should be the first to be vaccinated.

“If a high-ranking official gets the vaccine first, it could lead to complaints about fairness and cutting in line. I guess the first person will be an employee or resident of a nursing home or some other facility,” Kwon said.

By Seo Hye-mi, Choi Ha-yan & Noh Ji-won, staff reporters

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