760,000 S. Koreans to get two different vaccine shots

SEOUL • Some 760,000 South Koreans who have received a first dose of AstraZeneca's Covid-19 vaccine will be offered Pfizer's vaccine as a second shot due to shipment delays by the global vaccine sharing scheme Covax, the government has said.

Several countries, including Canada and Spain, have approved such dose-mixing, due mainly to concerns about rare and potentially fatal blood clots linked to the AstraZeneca vaccine.

Preliminary results of a Spanish study show that giving a dose of the Pfizer shot to those who have already had the AstraZeneca vaccine is highly safe and effective.

Some 835,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine from Covax were due to arrive in South Korea by the end of this month. Seoul plans to use them mainly as second shots for around 760,000 health and frontline workers who had their first dose in April.

The shipment has been delayed to July or later, while the country has used up its AstraZeneca reserves to meet stronger-than-expected participation in its vaccination drive, which helped the country meet its first-half inoculation target ahead of schedule. Over 27 per cent of its 52 million population had been inoculated with at least one dose as at Thursday, and the country is on track to meet a target of 70 per cent by September. The government expects to receive 80 million doses of vaccines in the third quarter, including 10 million in July.

South Korea reported 507 new cases by midnight on Thursday, for a tally of 150,238. The death toll is 1,996 since the pandemic began.

REUTERS