S. Korea resumes AstraZeneca vaccine rollout for people over 30

People under 30 are excluded from the vaccination as the risks of the shot are greater than the benefits for that age group

The photo shows a test tube labeled “Vaccine” in front of the AstraZeneca logo. (Reuters/Yonhap News)

South Korea resumed administering AstraZeneca’s (AZ) COVID-19 vaccine Monday after blood clotting cases were confirmed to be a rare side effect.

Those under the age of 30 are restricted from receiving the vaccine. The South Korean government’s decision came after calculating benefits and losses for different age groups, with stronger after-the-fact blood clot response measures to be introduced for other age groups.

“After a temporary postponement, we will be resuming preventive administration of the AstraZeneca vaccine as of April 12,” the COVID-19 preventive vaccination response team said Sunday.

“However, those under the age of 30 will not be included among the recipients,” it added.

The team also said that “those who have received the AstraZeneca [vaccine] for their first dose will also receive AstraZeneca for their second dose, regardless of age.”

While Germany and France have opted for using different vaccines for the first and second doses, the team concluded that there was not yet a sufficient scientific basis for doing so. The team also said it plans to develop a monitoring system for early detection and treatment of the rare blood clots, explaining that doing so will allow for the prevention of severe symptoms and deaths.

The government’s decision to restrict the use of the vaccine only among those under 30 was based on its conclusion that the gains from administering the vaccine to those in their 20s did not outweigh the dangers.

The dangers are the occurrence of possibly fatal blood clotting, which the European Medicines Agency has acknowledged to be a “very rare” side effect of the vaccine’s administration. The benefits are the effects in terms of preventing serious symptoms and death among those who contract COVID-19.

The findings of a study by an advisory team on blood clotting disorders associated with COVID-19 vaccines showed people in their 20s to be the only age group for whom the risks were either greater to or similar to the benefits.

The benefits increased among those in their 30s and older. For people in their 60s, the benefits were 42.1 times higher in preventing death by COVID-19 and 159.3 times higher in preventing severe symptoms. For those aged 80 and up, both benefits were 690.3 times higher.

With the latest decision, the South Korean government is to follow an AZ vaccination plan similar to the one recently adopted by the UK. The UK is also restricting use of the vaccine among people under 30 while administering it as a second dose for all those whose first dose was also with the AZ vaccine.

But some are predicting difficulties in convincing South Koreans of the need for administering the AZ vaccine in age groups above 30. Not only has the virus’s prevalence in South Korea not been as severe as in the UK or other European countries, but a number of European countries are also restricting use of the vaccine even among those aged 30 to 59.

By Choi Ha-yan, staff reporter

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