The government emphasized once again that it strongly recommends vaccination, saying that the need for vaccination has absolutely increased due to the increased risk of COVID-19 infection among adolescents.
The government held a 'Corona 19 Vaccination Special Briefing' today (9th) and asked 12-17 year olds to participate in the vaccination, saying that the effect of the youth corona 19 vaccination is clear and the risk of adverse reactions is lower than that of adults.
"The government is earnestly appealing for and strongly recommends immunization for adolescents aged 12-17 to ensure safe school attendance and continuation of daily recovery for children," said Jung Eun-kyung, head of the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC).
Commissioner Jeong said, “School is a place for our children to learn, a place to meet friends, and a time to create the future. I asked.
As the risk of COVID-19 among children and adolescents increases, the government has decided to apply the quarantine pass (inoculation certificate, negative confirmation system) to children aged 12 to 18 from February next year.
Some are concerned about the side effects of youth vaccination and are strongly opposed to the implementation of the youth quarantine pass.
Criticism has also been raised of the government not providing sufficient information and effectively coercing adolescents to be vaccinated.
The government announced that the number of confirmed cases among adolescents (12-17 years old) is continuously increasing from 3,630 in September to 4,837 in October and 6,612 in last month.
In particular, from the 2nd week of last month to the 4th week of last month, the number of confirmed cases per 100,000 people under the age of 18 was 210.1, which is higher than the number of confirmed cases per 100,000 people over the age of 19 (167.3).
The incidence rate per 100,000 among middle school students (12-15 years old), whose vaccination rate is lower than that of high school students (16-17 years old), is increasing from 7.6 in the first week of November to 12.4 in the first week of December.
As of 00:00 today, the primary vaccination rate for adolescents aged 12-17 is 50.2%, and the secondary vaccination rate is 34.1%.
For those aged 16-17 who started the vaccination first, the primary vaccination rate is 72.8%, and the second vaccination rate is 65.8%.
The government emphasized that "the effect of youth vaccination is clearly visible."
Pfizer vaccine used for 12-17 years of age vaccination has been confirmed to be safe and effective for youth vaccination in countries such as the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and the European Medicines Agency (EMA). The government explained that immunizations are being implemented for adolescents.
Since February of this year, all 11 adolescents who have progressed to severe symptoms after being confirmed with COVID-19 are unvaccinated.
In addition, it was found that 99.8% (3,315 people) of a total of 3,320 people aged 12 to 17 who were confirmed with Corona 19 for two weeks from the 14th of last month did not complete the vaccination.
Looking at the daily average incidence per 100,000 adolescents as of the first week of December, the age of 18 years old (secondary vaccination rate 97%), which had the highest vaccination rate, was the lowest at 4.1, followed by 6.0 in the 16-17 year old and 12.4 in the 12-15 year old. The higher the incidence.
The government analyzed the effects of vaccinations for 12-17 years of age from July 19 to November 27. As a result, the incidence of COVID-19 in the unvaccinated group was 25.3 times higher than in the second inoculation group, and the second inoculation group had critically ill patients. was confirmed to be absent.
Regarding the vaccine side effects that parents are concerned about, the government said that the reporting rate of suspected adverse reactions among adolescents aged 12-17 years after vaccination was 0.28% (277.9 cases per 100,000 doses), lower than 0.37% of adults (365.1 cases per 100,000 doses). emphasized.