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| Minister of Health and Welfare Cho Kyoo-hong speaks during a government meeting on COVID-19 response measures at the Government Complex in Seoul, Wednesday. Yonhap |
By Jun Ji-hye
The government will provide bivalent COVID-19 booster shots one time this year. Anyone aged over 12 can receive the injection for free, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) announced, Wednesday.
The free COVID-19 vaccination will be offered from October to November with the aim of preventing people from falling seriously ill or dying when they contract the virus.
Even if COVID-19 is downgraded on a global level during the World Health Organization's (WHO) meeting, which is scheduled for late April or early May, the government will maintain its free COVID-19 vaccination policy.
The KDCA said high-risk groups for COVID-19 are actively recommended to receive the shot. People in those groups include those aged over 65 and those working for or who have been hospitalized at long-term elderly care facilities.
Health authorities had originally categorized those aged over 60 as a high-risk group, but this was changed to people who are over 65, as the fatality rate of those aged between 60 and 64 has been much lower.
In particular, people with reduced immunity, including those who are receiving treatments for cancer, are recommended to be vaccinated twice a year ― in the second quarter and the fourth quarter, considering the duration of antibodies in their bodies is shorter.
"Protecting high-risk groups is the most important task to keep the current stable pandemic situation and move toward the pre-pandemic normality," Minister of Health and Welfare Cho Kyoo-hong said during a government meeting on the COVID-19 response.
The decision to offer the free booster shots once a year was made because the government judged that the COVID-19 situation has continued to stabilize and that a considerable number of people possess the antibodies.
According to data from the KDCA, the daily confirmed COVID-19 cases as well as the number of seriously-ill patients and deaths have consistently decreased since mid-December.
The government also took into account the fact that the United States and Japan are planning to provide annual vaccination programs as well.
"The annual vaccination program is mainly aimed at preventing people from falling seriously ill or dying when they contract the virus, rather than retraining the pandemic," a KDCA official said. "The plan is changeable if newly confirmed cases or deaths rapidly increase with the emergence of mutant virus variants."
The official added that more discussions will be necessary to decide whether to continue to offer COVID-19 vaccinations annually next year.
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