The quarantine authorities announced that they are working closely with global pharmaceutical companies to increase the quantity and bring forward the schedule to resolve the shortage of COVID-19 treatments.
Accordingly, 177,000 doses, which is 37,000 more than the 140,000 doses of COVID-19 treatment that were scheduled to be imported next week, are expected to be supplied on the 26th.
At a briefing on “COVID-19 Outbreak Trends and Response Measures” held on the 21st, Director of the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency Ji Young-mi announced, “We have secured a reserve fund of 326.8 billion won for the purchase of treatments and purchased an additional 260,000 doses.” She added, “Through consultations with global pharmaceutical companies, 140,000 doses were originally scheduled to be supplied by next week, but we have brought forward the supply to 177,000 doses on next Monday.”
The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency has been preparing a reserve fund with the financial authorities since the end of last month to introduce COVID-19 treatments. In addition, through a pre-contract with a pharmaceutical company, approximately 60,000 doses of treatments were introduced on the 15th and are being distributed to the field.
The treatments introduced sequentially in this manner are expected to be supplied by October, and from then on, they will be able to be supplied within the general medical system through health insurance listing.
The quarantine authorities also plan to closely examine the supply and demand situation of self-testing kits, which are currently in short supply.
“Diagnostic kit manufacturers are expanding their production and plan to produce more than 5 million units this month,” said Director Ji. “We will continuously monitor the production plans and inventory levels of each manufacturer to ensure full supply.”
In addition, Director Ji predicted that the summer COVID-19 epidemic, which has been rapidly spreading since the end of June, will continue until the end of this month and then begin to decline starting next month.
Commissioner Ji said, “The reasons for the outbreak this summer include the fact that the COVID-19 outbreak last winter was not that large and the COVID-19 vaccination rate was relatively low,” adding, “In addition, the spread of the KP.3 variant, which has a high immune evasion ability, the lack of indoor ventilation due to the use of air conditioners, and the increase in movement during the vacation season have all worked in combination.”
He diagnosed, “This summer’s epidemic with these characteristics is expected to peak in late August, and the scale of the epidemic is expected to be similar to last year.”
He continued, “In fact, the increase is slowing down somewhat compared to last week, and if we follow the preventive measures well, the actual number of cases is expected to be smaller than expected.”
The agency currently expects that by the end of this month, there will be 350,000 new cases per week, the highest level since last year.
However, the results of domestic and international institutional analyses of KP.3, which currently has the highest mutation rate, showed that the severity and mortality rate are not much different from the previous COVID-19 Omicron series mutant strains, so it is not considered a crisis situation.
Commissioner Ji said, “The cumulative fatality rate of COVID-19 over the past four years is 0.1%, and especially after the Omicron mutation, the domestic COVID-19 fatality rate last year was 0.05%, similar to seasonal flu.” He explained, “The current epidemic situation should be viewed as part of the process of COVID-19 becoming endemic, not a crisis situation like the COVID-19 pandemic from 2020 to 2022.”
He added, “Not only in our country, but also in countries like Japan, the UK, and the US, we are seeing similar epidemic patterns, with similar increases and then decreases.”
Also, regarding the fact that the number of COVID-19 patients visiting emergency rooms increased from 2,240 in June to 11,627 in July, he dismissed the issue, saying, “In reality, most COVID-19 patients visiting emergency rooms are of moderate or lower severity, so I do not see it as a major crisis,” and “I do not see it as a situation that warrants an upgrade to the crisis level.”
However, Commissioner Ji emphasized, “If you look at the COVID-19 fatality rate by age, it increases rapidly for those over 60, and in particular, it increases sharply to 1.75% for those over 80.” He added, “What’s important now is to protect high-risk groups such as the elderly and those with underlying diseases to minimize health damage.”
He added, “We will do our utmost to provide treatment and prepare for vaccinations to ensure stable protection for the elderly and high-risk groups.”
Health authorities will begin a vaccination schedule in October that will allow for simultaneous administration of the COVID-19 vaccine and the flu vaccine.
Lim Sook-young, director of the Health Safety and Prevention Bureau at the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency, emphasized, “The vaccination starting in October is targeting high-risk groups such as those aged 65 and older and those with weakened immune systems, but it is also much more helpful for the general public to get vaccinated.”
Those at high risk, such as those aged 65 or older, immunocompromised individuals, and those hospitalized or residing in facilities vulnerable to infection, can receive the vaccine for free, and the detailed plan will be announced within the next month.
(Seoul = News 1)
2024-08-21 13:19:20