Corona 19 vaccination in Korea is also starting in earnest today (26th).



It has been one year and 37 days since January 20, last year when the first corona 19 confirmed in Korea.



The government is setting a goal of completing the first vaccination for more than 70% of the population by September and forming a collective immunity by November to escape from the Corona 19 crisis.



According to the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, AstraZeneca (AZ) vaccination will be administered from 9 am today in 1,915 public health centers and nursing hospitals.



This vaccine is a product commissioned by SK Bioscience at the Andong plant in Gyeongbuk.



The government signed a vaccine purchase contract with AstraZeneca for 10 million people, of which 785,000 people (1.57 million doses) were released sequentially from the 24th.



The AstraZeneca vaccine is transferred from the Andong plant to the Icheon Logistics Center in Gyeonggi-do, and is repackaged there according to the distribution amount for each inoculation institution and delivered to 258 public health centers and 1,657 nursing hospitals for 4 days from 25 to 28 days.



AstraZeneca vaccine can be distributed in general refrigeration with an appropriate distribution temperature of 2 to 8 degrees Celsius.



Therefore, it is possible to receive and receive vaccinations from each public health center and medical institution without having a separate facility.



Starting today, the targets of receiving AstraZeneca vaccine are those who are hospitalized, inhabitants, and workers under the age of 65 at nursing hospitals, nursing facilities, mental care and rehabilitation facilities nationwide.



As the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety recommended careful vaccination for the elderly aged 65 or older due to insufficient clinical data, the number of vaccination subjects decreased to about 310,000.



Among the targets for vaccination, the number of people who agreed to the vaccination was 289,000 as of the last 25 days, and the rate of consent for vaccination was 93.7%.



Most of the countries that started vaccinating Corona 19 before us have designated'No. 1 vaccinator', but the KCDC has decided not to designate a specific person.



The Agency for Disease Control and Prevention yesterday revealed through a reference material that "nursing hospitals and nursing homes under the age of 65 that start at 9 am on the 26th will all be the first inoculations."



First, today, the first day of vaccination, 5,266 residents and workers in 213 nursing facilities nationwide get the vaccine.



Nursing facility residents and workers can receive vaccinations at the public health center, and medical staff will also provide vaccinations at visits if they are incapacitated.



Separately, 292 nursing hospitals that received the AstraZeneca vaccine are also starting vaccinations.



The government is in a position that it is difficult to specifically identify the number of vaccinations on the first day because vaccinations are performed by institution.



In a briefing yesterday, the head of the vaccination management team of the Corona 19 Vaccination Response Promotion Team, Kyung-sil Chung, said, "In the case of nursing hospitals, the authorities are not planning the number of people because the vaccination will be distributed for 5 days according to its own plan." "It can be seen that more than 1,266 people are getting the vaccine."



"(AstraZeneca) vaccine was approved through a triple verification procedure of the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, and many people around the world are already receiving vaccinations," said Eun-kyung Jung, head of the Corona 19 Vaccination Promotion Team. If you do, please actively participate in the vaccination."



Pfizer vaccination will be conducted from tomorrow at the Central Vaccination Center at the National Medical Center in Jung-gu, Seoul.



199 workers in this medical center and 101 workers in the treatment hospital for COVID-19 patients in the metropolitan area are eligible for vaccination.



The vaccine for them is Pfizer's vaccine introduced through the COVAX facility, an international vaccine supply organization, and the first vaccination for all 55,000 medical staff treating COVID-19 patients will be completed on the 20th of next month.



The second vaccination is scheduled to be completed on April 10, three weeks later.



Pfizer vaccines are difficult to distribute and store at temperatures around -75 degrees Celsius, so vaccination begins at the vaccination center that can manage them, and then expands to each medical institution.



Meanwhile, the government has secured a total of 79 million vaccines so far.



Specifically, 10 million AstraZeneca vaccines, 6 million Janssen vaccines, 13 million Pfizer vaccines, 20 million Modena vaccines, and 20 million NovaVax vaccines were secured through contracts by pharmaceutical companies. We decided to supply 10 million people.



(Photo = Yonhap News)