S. Korea to exclude elderly when starting vaccinations on Feb 26

South Korea will exclude those aged 65 and above from its first round of Covid-19 vaccinations starting on Feb 26, amid growing concerns over how well the first batch of vaccine doses, by British-Swedish drugmaker AstraZeneca, would work on older people.

The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) announced the decision yesterday, citing a lack of clinical data on the effectiveness of the vaccine on the elderly and how that may "lower public acceptance".

This marks a change from earlier plans to inoculate all patients and staff at nursing homes and other long-term care facilities first. Now, only those aged below 65 at these facilities - an estimated 272,000 people - will get the shots first.

Second in line will be 354,000 medical workers in high-risk facilities such as general hospitals, who will be vaccinated from March 8. They will be followed by about 78,000 front-line Covid-19 workers, including emergency responders and epidemiological investigators, from March 22.

Those 65 and older are likely to be vaccinated in the second quarter of the year when new batches of vaccine arrive, KDCA commissioner Jeong Eun-kyeong said at a briefing yesterday.

South Korea has already secured vaccines to inoculate 56 million people - more than enough for its 51.8 million population - from the global vaccine sharing scheme Covax, and separate deals with drugmakers including AstraZeneca, Moderna and Pfizer.

The first batch - 1.5 million doses from AstraZeneca, enough to inoculate 750,000 people - will be delivered from Feb 24 to 28. They are manufactured locally in collaboration with biopharmaceutical firm SK Bioscience.

Concern had been growing in Europe over the lack of data on the efficacy of AstraZeneca's vaccine for people aged 65 and above, and poor results in fighting against a South African variant of the virus.

South Korea's Ministry of Food and Drug Safely gave its approval last week for the vaccine to be used for all age groups, but urged doctors to be more "attentive" when administering it to seniors aged 65 and above, due to limited clinical data for them.

AstraZeneca is expected to address the issue with ongoing clinical trials in the United States, due for submission by end-March.

Meanwhile, Covid-19 infections continued to grow in South Korea, with 344 cases reported yesterday. This brings the total to 83,869, with 1,527 deaths.

With Seollal, or Lunar New Year, over, the authorities eased social distancing restrictions from yesterday to allow small businesses such as restaurants, cafes and gyms in Seoul and greater Seoul to operate an additional hour, until 10pm.

Nightclubs, karaoke bars and other high-risk entertainment venues, which have been closed since November when the third Covid-19 wave started, could also reopen and run until 10pm.

A ban on social gatherings of more than four people remains in place, but family members and relatives are allowed to gather in bigger numbers.

President Moon Jae-in said that new social distancing rules will be introduced next month in line with the vaccination programme, and that the government will take stricter measures against violation of the rules.

"Even when vaccinations begin, the war against Covid-19 is bound to become a long-term one," he said in a weekly meeting with senior aides yesterday.

"We need to find a way for the fight to be compatible with people's livelihoods."