It was confirmed that the reason why the government suspended the plan for free influenza (flu) vaccination this year was because the refrigeration temperature was not properly maintained during the delivery of the vaccine.
Health officials say a problem occurred in the process of allocating vaccine quantities, and that it was not a problem with the manufacture and production of the vaccine.
Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) chief Jung Eun-kyung said in a briefing on the suspension of vaccination at the Osong Center for Disease Control and Prevention in Chungbuk on the 22nd, "An inappropriate case such as maintaining the refrigeration temperature of the vaccine during distribution by a procurement contractor was reported yesterday afternoon."
Chung explained, "The current issue of the vaccine is a problem in the distribution process, that is, it has been reported that there is a problem in maintaining the refrigeration temperature, and it is not a problem in manufacturing or the manufacturer's vaccine production."
He then explained, "It is a method of supplying about 12.59 million doses (one dose) to medical institutions through wholesalers through the government's procurement contract," he said. "About 5 million doses have been supplied, but the vaccination has not been done yet." I did.
Some of the 5 million doses are known to have been exposed to room temperature.
The government plans to determine whether to vaccinate after confirming safety through a final quality check on the quantity in question.
It is said that safety verification takes about 2 weeks.
As a result of the verification, if there is a safety problem and the amount needs to be discarded, this year's vaccination plan is inevitable.
In addition, the government's plan to block the simultaneous pandemic of Corona 19 and flu is expected to be disrupted.
The government has significantly expanded the number of free flu vaccinations this year in order to prevent the so-called'twindemic', in which Corona 19 and the flu are both prevalent this year.
This year, the target audience is 19 million, including children and adolescents aged 6 months to 18 years, pregnant women, and elderly people over 62.
From today (22nd), the health authorities were planning to provide free vaccinations for children and adolescents under the age of 18 (born January 1, 2002 to August 31, 2020) and pregnant women. When some problems were discovered in the process of distribution, the vaccination was completely stopped.
(Photo = Yonhap News)