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Recently, the number of children and adolescents has increased significantly. That's because I haven't been vaccinated yet. We are currently only planning to vaccinate people over 12 years of age, but in the US and Germany, it is expected that 5-11 year olds will be allowed by next month.
Reporter Ahn Sang-woo reports.
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In June, the average daily number of confirmed students in Korea did not exceed 50.
However, from July, when the fourth wave of the epidemic, the number exceeded 100, and after the start of school in the middle of last month, the number soared to 180.
The situation in the US is even worse.
Vaccinations for 12-17 year-olds started in May, but the number of children under the age of 17 who were infected with COVID-19 in the last week surpassed 250,000, a record high.
Compared to two months ago, that number has increased nearly 30 times.
The clinical trial was delayed compared to other age groups, so only some adolescents were vaccinated, and contact with the outside world increased due to the reopening of school, etc.
[Eom Joong-sik / Professor of Infectious Diseases, Gachon University Gil Hospital: It is true that gastric and severe progression and death are small, but it is not that it does not happen, and the absolute number increases as the epidemic grows. A fairly in-depth discussion is needed.] In the
United States and Europe, vaccination for children is also rushing after adolescents.
In the United States and Germany, Pfizer said it will apply for approval to vaccinate children ages 5-11 next month.
The two countries' health authorities are expected to approve the vaccination as early as October after reviewing the safety and effectiveness data submitted by Pfizer.
We expect that the 12-17 year old vaccination will start in November, when more than 70% of the population has been vaccinated.
(Video editing: So Ji-hye)