US FDA approves latest variant vaccine
Situations in which existing domestic vaccines must be administered
“Preventive effect may decrease in case of additional mutations”
“Import dependency problem due to failure to develop vaccine” pointed out
Although the new variant of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) is running rampant worldwide, Korea is likely to use the older variant vaccine rather than the latest one. This is because it has already contracted and is importing more than 7.5 million doses of the existing vaccine.
On the 22nd (local time), the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) vaccines from Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna, respectively, to respond to the latest COVID-19 variant, ‘KP. 2’. Recently, the KP. 2 and ‘KP. 3’ variants have been spreading worldwide, including in Korea. Pfizer and Moderna recently developed vaccines effective against the KP. 2 variant at the request of the FDA. This is taking advantage of the mRNA vaccine, which allows for rapid vaccine development.
The FDA explained that since the KP.2 and KP.3 variants are genetically almost identical, the new vaccine will be effective against both variants. Accordingly, in the United States, the latest vaccine, the KP.2 vaccine, will be administered soon, but the situation is different in Korea. This is because Korea has signed an import contract with American pharmaceutical companies for the existing JN.1 variant vaccine. A total of 7.55 million doses, including Pfizer (5.23 million doses), Moderna (2 million doses), and Novavax (320,000 doses). All of these vaccines target JN.1.
The incidence of existing mutations is decreasing and new mutations are spreading, but in Korea, it is a situation where we have to get the previous mutation vaccine.
Experts point out that “the epidemic in January and February next year is the problem.” Since both KP.2 and KP.3 are subtypes of JN.1, existing vaccines are effective in preventing the disease. However, if another mutation occurs here, the preventive effect may be greatly reduced. Professor Eom Jung-sik of Gachon University College of Medicine explained, “The virus that will be prevalent in the winter is likely to be a mutation that is genetically close to KP.3,” and “The KP.2 vaccine may have some preventive effect, but the JN.1 vaccine may not.”
The Korean Medical Association also stated on the 27th, “It is questionable whether the JN. 1 variant vaccine secured by the government is the optimal vaccine for preventing COVID-19 in the winter.” In response, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency explained, “The World Health Organization (WHO) recommended the JN. 1 variant vaccine this year, and the JN. 1 variant vaccine shows a similar effect to the KP. 2 vaccine against the KP. 3 variant.”
Some point out that the problem is that Korea is unable to develop vaccines independently and is dependent on imports. In 2021, when COVID-19 was prevalent, the government planned the ‘New and Variant Infectious Disease Response Platform Core Technology Development Project’ and began developing mRNA technology. However, this year, the budget was cut by about 80%, making it virtually impossible to conduct research. An official from the domestic bio industry pointed out, “It will be difficult to become a vaccine-independent country if we invest the budget only when necessary.”
Reporter Choi Ji-won [email protected]
Reporter Jo Yu-ra [email protected]
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2024-08-28 01:05:42