AstraZeneca vaccine is OK for all adults: South Korean panel
Vials with AstraZeneca's coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccine are seen at the vaccination centre in the Newcastle Eagles Community Arena, in Newcastle upon Tyne, Britain, January 30, 2021. REUTERS-Yonhap
A South Korean panel of experts has said that vaccines for the novel coronavirus by AstraZeneca can administered for people over the age of 65 amid efficacy controversies, according to the country's drug safety agency Monday.
The independent advisory board announced its review on efficacy and safety of the vaccines developed by the British-Swedish pharmaceutical giant and Oxford University, according to the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety.
The experts said the AstraZeneca vaccine's efficacy is similar among people aged between 18 and 64, and those aged 65 and older, citing no serious side effect was found in both groups.
The panel advised the ministry to approve the two full-dose regimen on condition that AstraZeneca submit further data on clinical trials currently under way in the United States and final reports.
A Ministry of Food and Drug Safety official takes off a facial mask to speak to journalists at Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency's briefing room in Cheongju, North Chungcheong Province, about a South Korean panel's evaluation of AstraZeneca's efficacy, Feb. 1. Yonhap
Controversies arose globally on the use of AstraZeneca's COVID-19 for the elders as there is not enough data to back its efficacy in older people. Last week, the European Medicines Agency's expert committee unanimously recommended the vaccine to be used in people 18 and over.
The local panel's review also showed that AstraZeneca's vaccine efficacy rate came to 62 percent among all test subjects, higher than a 50 percent efficacy rate released by the World Health Organization.
The experts detected two cases of severe abnormal response, but the number is within a permissible level, the ministry said. The experts, however, advised further monitoring of such cases following the approval.
South Korea has so far secured 10 million doses of AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccines for the country's population of 52 million.
Of the total, doses for up to 2.19 million people are expected to be provided in the first half of this year following the ministry's approval, which is expected later this month. (Yonhap)