How Korea's first rounds of COVID-19 vaccines may roll out
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The National Medical Center on Monday evening demonstrated how the first rounds of COVID-19 vaccinations could be carried out.
The state hospital will be the first medical institution to administer the vaccines that are to arrive in the next couple of weeks.
“Once people arrive to get their COVID-19 jabs, they will be screened for symptoms and then verified for eligibility, as vaccinations will be accessible to different groups at a time,” the hospital’s infectious disease specialist Dr. Kim Yeon-jae told reporters.
“And then they will be examined by medical staff briefly for checking that they are in proper condition to receive the shot.”
All of these steps would proceed in a socially distanced manner, he added, with at least 1 meter between people.
Kim estimated that up to 600 people could be vaccinated per day, but added that the biggest obstacle was the staffing. At the hospital, each inoculation shift will consist of four doctors and four nurses.
“Depending on how many staff can be mobilized per session, we may either scale up or down the number of doses being administered daily. But right now we are still running simulations to see what might be a viable goal,” he said.
He said that the vaccine recipients will be observed for possible -- though very rare -- occurrences of adverse reactions such as anaphylaxis. “For such occasions, the staff may perform intubation or resuscitation. The 119 (emergency) dispatchers will also be on-site to transport patients,” he said.
People with prior medical conditions or a history of allergic reactions to a vaccine will be monitored for 30 minutes, while for all the others it will be 15 minutes.
Pfizer vaccines, which are more challenging to handle, would be stored in ultracold freezers and then thawed a day before being injected. Once thawed, the vaccine concentrate is to be diluted with sodium chloride before being administered.
“These are some of the things that you have to do differently with the Pfizer vaccine,” he said.
According to the government announcement, the first doses will go to medical workers on COVID-19 duty and residents of long-term care facilities.
By Kim Arin (arin@heraldcorp.com)
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