Gov't plan for booster shots raises eyebrows

 

An individual receives a coronavirus vaccine at a vaccination center in Seodaemun District of Seoul, Tuesday. Yonhap

Breakthrough cases top 3,000

By Lee Hyo-jin

While the government is seeking to begin providing booster shots in the fourth quarter, amid rising cases of breakthrough COVID-19 infections here, some medical experts have questioned the feasibility of the plan, citing the ongoing instability in the vaccine supply.

The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) announced Monday that it plans to start administering booster shots in October to fully vaccinated individuals whose immunity has weakened over time.

A booster shot is an extra dose of a vaccine, given at a predetermined time after the initial injection(s) in order to raise or maintain an individual's immunity against the target virus.

The KDCA noted that an expert panel on COVID-19 vaccines has advised people to receive the extra shot six months after their last dose, while vulnerable groups such as the elderly population may receive the booster shot earlier.

The decision on booster shots came as the country is seeing a growing number of post-vaccination breakthrough infections.

There have been a total of 3,128 cases suspected to be breakthrough infections as of Aug. 23, which is the latest data available, according to the KDCA, with the rate of breakthrough cases in people in their 30s being the highest of all age groups, at 0.085 percent.

Recently, among 165 infections that were traced to a nursing home in Daegu, 43 were found to be breakthrough infections.

Given this situation, giving out the booster shots seems necessary, especially to high-risk groups, though some critics questioned the feasibility of the measure, considering the continuing unstable supply of vaccines.

 "Offering booster shots to keonhacai elderly by the end of the year seems appropriate to cope with the increasing threat of the Delta variant. But it remains to be seen whether the government will be able to realize this plan," Kim Woo-joo, an infectious disease professor at Korea University Guro Hospital, told The Korea Times.

"Several countries, such as the U.S. and Israel, are already giving booster shots, with many other governments expected to follow suit, meaning that the global competition for securing vaccines may worsen. If that happens, we may have trouble receiving enough of the doses we have already secured so as to complete our overall plan of fully vaccinating every individual."

Although Korea has "secured" enough vaccines to inoculate 99 million people, or nearly double its population, the country's inoculation schedule has been facing multiple disruptions due to shipment delays.

After a supply delay from Moderna ― due to production-related issues ― caused setbacks in Korea's inoculation schedule earlier this summer, the pharmaceutical company pledged to provide six million doses by Sept. 5, but health authorities here have not yet been notified about the specific delivery dates.

In addition, Novavax, from which the government has purchased 40 million doses, has delayed its timeline for seeking authorization in the U.S., adding uncertainty over whether Korea will be able to receive the company's product within this year.

Meanwhile, the KDCA reported 1,372 new infections for Monday, including 1,333 local transmissions, raising the aggregated total to 251,421.