▲ Minister of Health and Welfare Park Neung-Hoo to check the development status of corona 19 blood system


As the Corona 19 epidemic is prolonged, the quarantine authorities have proposed a target time point for mass production of domestic Corona 19 vaccine at the end of next year.

Kwon Joon-wook, vice-director of the Central Quarantine Countermeasures Headquarters (Bang Dae-bon), said at a regular briefing held at the Osong Disease Control Center in Chungbuk on the 14th. I said.

He said, "Because vaccines are put on healthy people, safety issues are more important than effectiveness, and there are too many additional challenges, such as strategy, supply and demand, transportation systems, vaccination priorities, safety monitoring, and the time required for vaccination."

"Even if a vaccine is developed, it would be a challenge to secure a vaccination manpower with a certain level of immunity and defense," said Kwon.

The authorities also plan to begin clinical trials in September for blood-based drug products, with the goal of developing this year.

Kwon said, "With the participation of the confirmers, we have secured a sufficient amount of plasma to make a blood test device for clinical trials. We will begin production of clinical trial preparations within this week."

"But it only takes about a month to create a plasma preparation for clinical trials," he added. "The clinical trial begins in early September and the goal is to obtain a blood plasma product within the year."

Plasma treatments are made from corona19 cured blood plasma and concentrated.

Up to this day, 390 cures have indicated their willingness to participate in the donation of plasma for the development of blood plasma, and 182 of them provided actual plasma.

Kwon also presented a roadmap for the development of antibody therapeutics.

He said, "The development of antibody therapies for clinical trials is being carried out mainly by companies. "We aim to secure (completed antibody therapies) during the first half of next year."

Meanwhile, remedyvir, which was specially imported as a treatment for corona19, has been administered to 49 seriously ill patients in 24 hospitals so far.

Remdecivir is an antiviral drug developed by Gilead Sciences of the United States for the treatment of Ebola, and has been confirmed to have a therapeutic effect on Corona19, and is being imported as a remedy worldwide.

(Photo = Yonhap News)