South Korea’s Disease Control and Prevention Agency has allowed health workers to prescribe additional doses from coronavirus vaccine filters developed by AstraZeneca and Pfizer
SEOUL, South Korea – The South Korean Disease Control and Prevention Agency has allowed health workers to prescribe additional doses of coronavirus vaccine filters developed by AstraZeneca and Pfizer.
The decision came Saturday after some health workers who administered AstraZeneca shots told authorities they still saw extra doses left in the bottles each used for 10 injections.
KDCA official Jeong Gyeong-shil said skilled workers could squeeze one or two extra doses from each vial if they use low-fat syringes designed to reduce over-the-counter medications and vaccines.
However, she said the KDCA does not allow health workers from vaccines left in different bottles to create more doses.
The KDCA had previously approved 10 injections for each AstraZeneca vial and six for each Pfizer vial.
South Korea, which launched its public vaccination campaign on Friday, is administering the AstraZeneca sightings to residents and staff at long-term care facilities and those of Pfizer to front-line medical workers.
South Korea on Saturday reported 405 other coronavirus cases.
Other developments around the Asia-Pacific region:
– More than 500,000 doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine arrived in Hong Kong on Saturday after a two-day delay due to export procedures, offering a second inclusion option for the city. The Pfizer-BioNTech views will be offered to approximately 2.4 million eligible residents from priority groups such as those aged 60 and over and health care workers. Around 70,000 residents who have signed up for the vaccine program, which began Friday, will receive the photos developed by Chinese biopharmaceutical company Sinovac. The Sinovac vaccines were the first to arrive last week. Registration information for those wishing to access the Pfizer-BioNTech images has not yet been received. Hong Kong has struck contracts for a total of 22.5 million doses, with 7.5 million each from Sinovac, AstraZeneca and Fosun Pharma, which delivers the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines. The government has so far approved the Sinovac and Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines.
—- New Zealand’s largest city in Auckland goes back to lockdown seven days after an unexplained new coronavirus case was discovered. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern made the announcement on Saturday afternoon following an emergency meeting with top lawmakers in the Cabinet. She said the lockout would take effect from Sunday morning. Auckland was locked up earlier this month after new cases of the more contagious variant found in Britain were discovered. New Zealand has a zero-tolerance strategy to eradicate the virus, and had halted community outbreaks before the latest issues were discovered this month. Ardern said the most recent patient had symptoms from earlier in the week and may have seized others. The rest of New Zealand will have more restrictions.
– The Ministry of Health of Sri Lanka has decided to give vaccination to all people aged 30 and older in the high-risk areas of the capital Colombo and suburbs where COVID-19 cases arise. There were 466 new cases in the last 24 hours. Sri Lankan began its inoculation campaign in January beginning with health workers. To date, more than 406,000 people have received their photographs.