Jun Ji-hye, a reporter at the finance desk of The Korea Times, focuses primarily on economic policy and government agencies, mainly covering the Ministry of Finance and Economy, the Ministry of Budget and Planning, the National Tax Service and the Korea Customs Service. She previously covered financial authorities, including the Financial Services Commission and the Financial Supervisory Service, and earlier worked on the political, city and business desks, reporting on a wide range of issues.
Calls grow to broaden age restriction for AZ vaccine
A senior citizen receives a COVID-19 vaccine shot at a vaccination center in Seoul's Yeongdeungpo District, Thursday. Yonhap
By Jun Ji-hye
Inoculation to be expanded to people in 50s beginning from July
By Jun Ji-hye
The government is facing growing calls to raise the age limit for the administering of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine, following the death of a man in his 30s who was being treated for a blood clot, a side effect from receiving the vaccine.
On April 12, health authorities decided not to administer the AstraZeneca vaccine to people under the age of 30 due to concerns over possible blood clots.
According to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA), the man, who had received the vaccine on May 27, died at around 2:10 p.m., Wednesday, after suffering from thrombosis with thrombocytopenia syndrome (TTS).
He had no pre-existing condition, according to the authorities.
It marked the country's second clotting case and the first death among those who have received the AstraZeneca vaccine.
The first patient who was confirmed to have blood clot symptoms on May 31 after receiving the vaccine at the end of April was recently discharged from the hospital after recovering, according to the KDCA. This patient was also in his 30s.
As these two blood clotting cases occurred among recipients of the AstraZeneca vaccine in their 30s, controversy has risen over whether the government's age limit of 30 was appropriate.
When announcing that decision, the authorities at the time said that there would be a greater risk of side effects than advantages when administering the vaccine to people in their 20s ― in other words, the advantages outweigh the risk of side effects when the vaccine is administered to people over 30.
But the authorities are showing a subtle change to this position, following reports of the two blood clot cases.
“There is a need to review the matter with the relevant experts, based on the number of recipients of the vaccine and the patients who suffered from the side effects,” a KDCA official said, Thursday, noting that 458,246 people have so far received the first dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine as of June 13.
Some other countries have already readjusted the age limit for the AstraZeneca vaccine, including Italy, which recently stopped administering it to people under the age of 60. In May, the United Kingdom raised the age of people prohibited from receiving the vaccine from those under the age of 30 to those under the age of 40.
Korea, which began its nationwide vaccination program on Feb. 26, is now administering vaccines from pharmaceutical giants AstraZeneca, Pfizer, Johnson & Johnson's Janssen and Moderna.
KDCA Commissioner Jeong Eun-kyeong said that more than 14 million people, or 27.2 percent of the entire population, have had at least their first shots of a vaccine.
Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) Commissioner Jeong Eun-kyeong speaks during a media briefing at the KDCA headquarters in Cheongju, North Chungcheong Province, Thursday, announcing vaccination plans to be applied during the third quarter. Yonhap
“The government is aiming to administer the first shot of a vaccine to at least 36 million people, or 70 percent of the population, by the end of September,” she said during a media briefing.
So far, the vaccination has been mainly given to elderly people, workers at medical institutions, or public officials and servants, such as police officers and firefighters.
Jeong said that it will be expanded starting in the third quarter to the more general public.
Teachers and other education workers at kindergartens and elementary, middle and high schools will get the shot regardless of their ages, beginning from July, in line with the Ministry of Education's plan to fully resume in-person classes starting in the fall semester.
Vaccines will be administered to College Scholastic Ability Test (CSAT) test takers, including high school seniors, in July and August.
People in their 50s will receive vaccines beginning from late July, while the administering of vaccines to those aged between 18 and 49 will begin in mid-August.