Free flu shots program temporarily halted

A nurse holds a flu vaccine at a clinic in Songpa-gu, southeastern Seoul, Tuesday. The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said the same day that the government will temporarily halt its plan to offer free seasonal flu vaccines due to problems reported during vaccine transport. Yonhap

By Bahk Eun-ji

The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said Tuesday that government has postponed free vaccinations for influenza due to problems detected during the transport of the vaccine.

“We had reports yesterday that 5 million doses of the flu vaccine, which needs to be refrigerated, had been exposed to room temperatures while being transported to medical institutions,” KDCA Commissioner Jeong Eun-kyeong said during an emergency briefing at the agency's building in Cheongju, North Chungcheong Province.

“We cannot rule out the possibility of quality problems if the vaccine is exposed to room temperature,” said Moon Eun-hee, director of the Pharmaceutical Safety Evaluation Division at the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety.

The government is currently testing all distributed vaccines to see if they are still active. The process is expected to take about two weeks.

Exposing a vaccine to room temperature can alter its protein content which can affect its efficacy.

The incident happened only a day before flu shots were scheduled for children and pregnant women. On Sept. 8, the government started the free vaccination program for children, who need two shots.

“We're working hard so that elderly people can get the shot without any delay,” Jeong said. Free vaccinations for the elderly will start from Oct. 13, covering those who are 62 years or older.

This year, flu shots are in high demand.

The health authorities have recommended that people get the flu shot to prevent an overloading of the medical system, which could be caused by a surge in the number of patients with respiratory diseases, and to manage their health during the coronavirus pandemic.

As autumn approaches, the government is worried that the number of flu patients will grow, stretching general health resources and increasing pressure on healthcare workers who are already overworked by the pandemic. Also, since flu symptoms are similar to COVID-19 symptoms, testing centers are likely to be busier with people when the flu season actually starts.

Around 29.5 million doses of the flu vaccine are available this year, 5 million more than last year.

The free vaccinations became a topic of political discussion, as lawmakers have insisted all Korean citizens get free flu shots this year. However, the KCDA said it's not technically possible.

Meanwhile, the KDCA reported 61 new COVID-19 infections Monday, including 51 local ones, raising the total caseload to 23,106. Three more deaths were reported, raising the toll to 388 amid a fatality rate of 1.68 percent.

The daily new cases stayed below 100 for the third straight day in what could be a sign of a slowdown in new infections, but the health authorities said they are standing at a critical juncture in the virus fight ahead of the upcoming Chuseok long weekend, when millions of people are expected to travel across the country.