Bivalent COVID vaccines available for people aged 12 and up from Monday

오늘부터 12세 이상도 개량백신 접종, 방역 완화된 중국 감기약 품귀에 국내 악영향도 우려

Starting this Monday, bivalent COVID vaccines will be available to everyone aged 12 and above.
Until now, only those aged 18 and above had been eligible.
But as the weather gets colder, the government has decided to make these shots available for more people.
Shin Ye-eun with details.

South Korea is trying to get through the winter without any more waves of COVID-19.
How?
By making new booster shots, also known as bivalent vaccines, available to more people.
Specifically, anyone who is 12 years and older and who already had their primary shots at least 90 days ago.
Reservations will be open from this Monday.
Those who are able to find leftover vaccines can get their shots from this day.
Others can book their shots, which will be given from December 19.

There are two bivalent vaccines made by Pfizer available.
One against the original strain of COVID and the BA.1 strain.
The other to protect against the BA-4 and BA-5 strains.

Health officials have been encouraging teens to get vaccinated as data shows this age group is three to five times more vulnerable to getting infected with Omicron.
Re-infection risks were 1-point-8 times greater among teens than adults.
Teens currently make up nearly one out of five reinfection cases.

But there are still many who first need to get their primary shots.
Up till last Friday, only 66-point-5 percent of teens had completed their primary shots.
And only 11-point-5 percent had received a regular booster shot.
Officials say this is because many teens and their parents are worried about any side effects from the vaccines.
Regardless, the officials are asking people to get their extra shots as the colder weather means there's higher risk of infection.

Health authorities are also concerned over stocks of cough medicine this winter as some of the materials for cough medicine come from China.
People in China are scrambling to buy cough medicine and face masks, fearing a spike in infections due to the recently eased COVID regulations.
That's why Korea's Ministry of Food and Drug Safety has asked local companies that have been importing raw materials from China to make cough medicine to take preparatory measures.

They asked companies to make sure they secure enough raw materials before China eases regulations further.
Shin Ye-eun, Arirang News.

#COVID19 #vaccine #Arirang_News

2022-12-12, 09:00 (KST)