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CEO & Publisher: Oh Young-jinDigital News Email: webmaster@koreatimes.co.krTel: 02-724-2114Online newspaper registration No: 서울,아52844Date of registration: 2020.02.05Masthead: The Korea TimesCopyright © koreatimes.co.kr. All rights reserved.

Korea approves Pfizer's oral COVID-19 pill

This image provided by Pfizer in October shows the company's COVID-19 Paxlovid pills. Korea's drug safety agency on Monday approved an emergency authorization of the drug. AP-YonhapSouth Korea's drug safety agency on Monday approved an emergency authorization of U.S. drug giant Pfizer Inc.'s oral drug to treat COVID-19, making it the first such pill to be used in the country.Paxlovid is the antiviral pill for the treatment of mild to moderate COVID-19 in patients at increased risk of hospitalization or death, according to Pfizer and the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety.The ministry convened a panel of experts from both inside and outside to review the safety and efficacy of Paxlovid, and concluded that the oral pill is needed to deal with the public health crisis.The drug is a protease inhibitor antiviral therapy that is specifically designed to be administered orally so that it can be prescribed at the first sign of infection or at first awareness of an exposure.The ministry said trial results showed Paxlovid significantly reduces the risk of hospitalization or death in patients at

Dec 27, 2021
Korea approves Pfizer's oral COVID-19 pill
  • New COVID-19 cases below 5,000 for 1st time in 20 days; critical cases remain high

New COVID-19 cases below 5,000 for 1st time in 20 days; critical cases remain high

Medical workers in booths take nasal samples from people at a makeshift testing site in Seoul, Dec. 22. AP-YonhapSouth Korea's new coronavirus cases fell below 5,000 for the first time in 20 days Monday due partly to antivirus restrictions and fewer tests over the weekend, but the number of critical cases remained high.The country added 4,207 new COVID-19 infections, raising the total caseload to 611,670, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA). The figure marked the first time daily cases fell below 5,000 since Dec. 7, and represented a sharp deline from a daily record high of 7,849 on Dec. 15.The number of critically ill COVID-19 patients slightly fell to 1,078 after reaching an all-time high of 1,105 on Saturday, the KDCA said. The country added 55 more deaths from the pandemic, bringing the death toll to 5,300. The fatality rate stood at 0.87 percent.The country also reported 69 new omicron variant cases, bringing the total to 445. Among them, 181 Omicron variant cases are imported and 264 locally transmitted, the KDCA said.On Dec. 18, the government r

Dec 27, 2021
New COVID-19 cases below 5,000 for 1st time in 20 days; critical cases remain high
  • Korea approves Pfizer's oral COVID-19 pill

'Beep' sound for unvaccinated people feared to violate human rights

Visitors scan QR codes of a vaccine pass app on their mobile phones to enter a restaurant in Seoul, Dec. 14. Korea Times photo by Ko Young-kwonBy Bahk Eun-jiCriticism is rising over the government's plan to introduce a warning sound function to the vaccine pass system to check the validity period of the permit and identify unvaccinated people.Critics say it could violate their human rights and lead to discrimination, treating unvaccinated people like shoplifters or criminals with electronic anklets.According to the Central Disease Control Headquarters, the 180-day validity period of a vaccine pass from the second dose of a COVID-19 vaccine will take effect on Jan. 3 at multiuse facilities including restaurants and cafes, a measure to encourage people to get booster shots. When unvaccinated people or those with expired passes scan their QR code, the scanner will beep. The headquarters said the alarm function is expected to ease the burden on eatery owners and facility operators who have to check every customer's vaccine pass, especially during busy times.But this has caused human righ

Dec 27, 2021By Bahk Eun-ji
'Beep' sound for unvaccinated people feared to violate human rights

New infections below 6,000 for 2nd day; critical cases at 1,081

People queue in line to wait for the coronavirus testing at a makeshift testing site in Seoul, Dec. 22. AP-YonhapSouth Korea's new coronavirus cases stayed below 6,000 for the second straight day Sunday following fewer tests on Christmas Day but critical cases remained high. The country added 5,419 more COVID-19 cases, including 5,339 local infections, bringing the cumulative total to 607,463, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said.Sunday's tally fell from 5,842 cases on Saturday, 6,233 on Friday and 6,917 on Thursday, apparently helped by antivirus restrictions. The number of critically ill patients slightly fell to 1,081 from a record high of 1,105 a day earlier, the KDCA said. The country added 69 more deaths from COVID-19, bringing the total to 5,245. The fatality rate stood at 0.86 percent.The country also reported 33 new Omicron variant cases, bringing the total to 376, the authorities said. (Yonhap)

Dec 26, 2021
New infections below 6,000 for 2nd day; critical cases at 1,081
  • INTERVIEW Vaccine expert warns against premature optimism over Omicron

INTERVIEW Vaccine expert warns against premature optimism over Omicron

Jerome Kim, the director general of the International Vaccine Institute / Courtesy of International Vaccine InstituteIVI director general urges Korea to develop strategy for possible Omicron-led waveBy Lee Hyo-jin It may be too early to take an optimistic approach to the Omicron variant of the coronavirus, says Jerome Kim, the director general of the International Vaccine Institute, calling on the Korean government to take preemptive action and come up with an in-depth strategy for a possible wave of the fast-spreading variant.“While the coronavirus may eventually mutate toward a more rapidly spreading but truly 'flu-like' illness, Omicron is not the variant you are hoping for,” Kim said in a recent e-mail interview with The Korea Times. Citing a lack of data, he stressed that the world should be vigilant against any blind optimism surrounding the Omicron variant.“We don't have enough data to reasonably make a proposition like that,” he said. “It is true that a significant amount of tracking and sequencing information suggests that Omicron is more infect

Dec 26, 2021By Lee Hyo-jin
[INTERVIEW] Vaccine expert warns against premature optimism over Omicron
  • New infections below 6,000 for 2nd day; critical cases at 1,081

New COVID-19 cases below 6,000 for 1st time in 4 days; critical cases hit fresh high

A healthcare worker takes a nasal swab sample from a person undergoing a COVID-19 test at a makeshift testing center in Seoul, Dec. 24. Yonhap New COVID-19 cases fell below 6,000 for the first time in four days Friday, apparently as a result of antivirus restrictions, but critical cases surged to another record high.The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) reported 5,842 more infections, including 5,767 local ones, bringing the cumulative total to 602,051.Friday's tally is sharply down from the 6,233 cases Thursday and 6,917 Wednesday. The number of critically ill patients, however, reached a fresh high of 1,105, the KDCA said, breaking the previous record high of 1,084 tallied Thursday.The country added 105 more deaths from COVID-19, the second-highest daily death toll behind 109 Thursday, raising the total to 5,176 for a fatality rate of 0.86 percent.The KDCA also reported 81 new Omicron variant cases, with 42 coming from overseas, bringing the total

Dec 25, 2021
New COVID-19 cases below 6,000 for 1st time in 4 days; critical cases hit fresh high

Gov't to decide whether to extend social distancing measures next week

A street in Myeong-dong in central Seoul is crowded with people, Dec. 19. YonhapBy Lee Hyo-jinThe government will decide whether to extend the current social distancing measures depending on the COVID-19 situation next week, as the country continues to see record-breaking numbers of critically ill patients. Although the daily infection caseload has been declining under the toughened distancing restrictions which will remain in place through Jan. 2, authorities said Friday that further extension or relaxation of the distancing measures have yet to be discussed. “The upsurge in new infections has slowed down,” Lee Ki-il, a senior health official, said during a COVID-19 response briefing. “But we should watch the situation next week before making further decisions on the social distancing measures.”He added that the recent decrease in new infections is attributable to the toughened quarantine measures and the swift rollout of booster shots.But he expressed concerns about the unrelenting number of critical cases. According to the Korea Disease Control and Preventi

Dec 24, 2021By Lee Hyo-jin
Gov't to decide whether to extend social distancing measures next week

Over half of Omicron infections among unvaccinated: KDCA

A person receives a COVID-19 vaccine at a community service center in Jung District, central Seoul, Monday. YonhapBy Lee Hae-rinOver half of the Omicron variant cases here have occurred in the unvaccinated, according to a report released by the nation's health authorities, Friday.The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) analyzed 80 Omicron infection cases from Nov. 24 to Dec. 10 and found that 48 out of 78 people, whom the authorities were able to confirm if they were inoculated, had yet to receive a vaccine when they were infected. Among the 25 fully vaccinated patients, 13 had received the Pfizer vaccine, five got Moderna shots, four received Janssen injections and three received the AstraZeneca vaccine, while another five had only received their first dose.The KDCA study concludes that unvaccinated people are more vulnerable to Omicron than those who are fully vaccinated. The nation's fully vaccinated rate is 82.4 percent as of Sunday.Most of the people infected by the new variant displayed only mild symptoms, while 22 had no symptoms. Among the 80 cases, there were

Dec 24, 2021By Lee Hae-rin
Over half of Omicron infections among unvaccinated: KDCA

New COVID-19 cases fall below 7,000 for 2nd day; critical cases hit record high

Medical workers prepare to conduct coronavirus tests at a pop-up screening clinic in front of Seoul Station, Dec. 23. YonhapSouth Korea's new coronavirus cases fell below 7,000 on Friday for the second day in a row on the back of antivirus restrictions, but critical cases surged to a record high again.The country added 6,233 more COVID-19 cases, including 6,163 local infections, bringing the cumulative total to 596,209, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said.Friday's tally is down from 6,918 on Thursday and sharply down from 7,434 reported on Dec. 17.The number of critically ill patients, however, came to a fresh high of 1,084, the KDCA said, breaking the previous record high of 1,083 tallied Thursday.The country added 56 more deaths from COVID-19, bringing the total to 5,071. The fatality rate stood at 0.85 percent, unchanged from a day earlier.The country reported 16 new Omicron variant cases, bringing the total to 262, the authorities said.On Saturday, the government reimposed a set of revised virus restrictions across the country, which will remain in effect

Dec 24, 2021
New COVID-19 cases fall below 7,000 for 2nd day; critical cases hit record high

Korea in final stage of signing contract for Pfizer's oral COVID-19 pill: PM

Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum speaks at a COVID-19 response meeting in Seoul, Dec. 24. YonhapSouth Korea is in the final stage of signing a contract with U.S. drug giant Pfizer to get its oral drug for COVID-19, Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum said Friday. "The government has been discussing a purchasing deal with Pfizer for a volume that is much more than our previously announced plan of 70,000 people," Kim said during a COVID-19 response meeting in Seoul. "We will announce the deal in detail once we confirm the contract and our drug safety agency approves emergency use of the drug," Kim added. Kim's remarks came after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration granted an emergency use authorization of Pfizer's COVID-19 pill known as Paxlovid.The government on Thursday said it was looking to purchase Paxlovid for 162,000 people from Pfizer.The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety's emergency authorization of Paxlovid is expected to come out next week. Kim said it is too early to say that the country is seeing a downward trend in virus infections, although daily cases seem to have stagnated around

Dec 24, 2021
Korea in final stage of signing contract for Pfizer's oral COVID-19 pill: PM
  • US regulator authorizes Merck's COVID pill
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