Leftover doses of AstraZeneca vaccine to be assigned to seniors

Effective from June 4, leftover COVID-19 vaccines due to no-show reservations will be assigned with priority to the elderly aged 60 and above. According to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency’s briefing on Wednesday, the regulations for the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine at clinics has been revised and the list of leftover vaccines will be reserved for those aged 60 or older.

Under the new regulations, leftover doses of vaccines after June 4 will be given priority to the elderly aged 60 and above that have signed up for the list or visiting the clinics. Remaining vaccines after this process will be available for sign-up those under 60 on mobile apps such as Naver and Kakao.

“The most important vaccination goal for the first half of 2021 is to have many vaccinations of those aged over 60 as we can,” said the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency, explaining the background for this change. The priority rule also applies for the Johnson & Johnson vaccines, for which reservations have launched for reserve forces and civil defense members. 　

Vaccine reservations for the elderly aged 60 and above will be received only until Thursday and will be completed by June 19. The reservation rate as of 12 a.m. on Wednesday was 74.9%.

Meanwhile, the government will partially allow second dose vaccination schedules to be advanced. “The second dose of AstraZeneca is recommended at eighth to 12th week, but the permitted adjustment period is four to 12 weeks. It is possible to get the second dose between 4 to 8 weeks in inevitable cases” said Hong Jung-ik, the team leader of Vaccination Management for COVID-19 Vaccination Task Force. Inevitable cases include overseas business trips, etc. and does not include adjustment due to summer vacation plans.


Sung-Gyu Kim sunggyu@donga.com