SEOUL (Reuters) – South Korea said Monday that it will not use AstraZeneca’s coronavirus vaccine in people aged 65 and older, reversing an earlier decision and scaling back initial vaccination targets due to delayed deliveries of the global COVAX vaccination schedule.
South Korea had said it would complete the vaccinations of 1.3 million people by the first quarter of this year with AstraZeneca injections, but the target was sharply lowered to 750,000.
The decision is largely due to changes in the timeframe for delivery of COVAX’s 2.6 million doses of AstraZeneca vaccine, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said Monday.
It did not mention production problems in Europe due to the delayed schedule due to administrative processes at COVAX, and reiterated that its plan to achieve immunity to herds in November was maintained.
“We do not believe the changes in February and March vaccinations will affect our herd immunity goal by November,” KDCA Director Jeong Eun-kyeong told a briefing.
South Korea also reverted to its previous plan for using the AstraZeneca vaccine and said it would delay the inoculation of the elderly using the injection until more data on its effectiveness become available.
South Korean authorities said last week that they would grant AstraZeneca its first approval for a coronavirus vaccine and allow its use in the elderly, despite warnings from advisory panels about a lack of data on its effectiveness in elderly patients.
Several European countries have warned that the AstraZeneca / Oxford University injection should only be given to those aged 18 to 64, but the company has said it causes a good immune response in older people.
The first vaccinations in South Korea will begin on February 26, with health workers and vulnerable residents, including the elderly, first.
Reporting by Sangmi Cha and Josh Smith; Editing by Miyoung Kim and Alex Richardson