Chung Ho-young, nominated to head the Ministry of Health and Welfare by President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol, has come under fire for various suspicions, emerging as a “major target” by the political opposition.Chung, former president of the Kyungbuk National University Hospital (KNUH), is denying all alle
The quarantine authorities Thursday judged that Korea was out of the peak of the Covid-19, stressing that now is the time to change the response system.“We believe the nation to be completely out of the pandemic's peak,” said Ko Jae-young, spokesperson for the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Ag
The government said that people aged 60 and older could receive a fourth dose of the Covid-19 vaccine from Thursday.Health authorities will provide the second boosters using mRNA (messenger ribonucleic acid) vaccines, such as Pfizer and Moderna, for older adults who have surpassed 120 days after rec
The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety (MFDS) refused the request from the pharmaceutical industry to allow the indirect export of botulinum toxin (BTX) products through agencies.On Tuesday, Jeong Hyeon-cheol, director of the Biopharmaceutical Policy Division at the MFDS, said in a meeting with report
Health officials said that Korea has confirmed the first case of XL, a recombinant of the Omicron Covid-19 strain.A recombinant variant occurs when an individual simultaneously becomes infected with two or more variants. The XL is one of 17 recombinant variants involving the BA.1 and BA.2 Omicron st
The government has set about discussions on overhauling the current social distancing steps, which restrict private gatherings to 10 people and business hours to midnight, effective until this weekend.“We have entered into a discussion about what to do with the entire social distancing system, inclu
For the world to minimize economic damage from the Covid-19 pandemic, it should resolve vaccine inequality among nations through international cooperation, a researcher said Friday.Kim Joo-kyoung, a legislative researcher at the National Assembly Research Service, said so in a paper.According to Our
The government said Friday that long-term foreign residents with a confirmed record of Covid-19 in Korea would no longer have to submit a negative polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test result when they reenter the country.Currently, Koreans who are released from quarantine after testing positive for
The government has begun to assess the situation to implement its sanctions on Russia following its participation in the joint statement issued by major members of the World Trade Organization (WTO) on March 15.The current situation has raised concerns among pharmaceutical companies and medical equi
The new government will prepare a "Covid-19 emergency response 100-day roadmap" to present guidelines for responding to the virus, Ahn Cheol-soo, head of President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol’s transition committee, said Thursday."We will discuss specific implementation plans to realize the national respons
The Covid-19 pandemic led to much attention and the use of digital therapeutics (DTx) worldwide.Experts said DTx would be used to treat chronic diseases, but Korea needs a national preparation such as a dedicated body to promote DTx.A research team at the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Servi
Korean researchers have published the first cohort study result for Celltrion's Regkirona, a Covid-19 treatment, an antibody treatment that selects and mass-produces neutralizing antibodies from recovered patients through cell culture.The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety approved the drug last Septe
The government said Wednesday that it is discussing a daily recovery plan to be implemented after the Omicron epidemic wave passes.Instead of declaring an “endemic” and returning to normalcy at a specific moment, the health authorities plan to convert the emergency system in operation since the outb
The government is considering making additional vaccination plans to prepare for the possible advent of another Covid-19 wave, officials said Tuesday."In addition to providing the fourth jab, we are examining vaccination plans in preparation for a possible outbreak of the Covid-19 virus in the fall
The National Human Rights Commission of Korea welcomed the recent reimbursement of CAR-T cell therapy Kymriah (tisagenlecleucel), urging the government to swiftly allow expensive new drugs to be covered by health insurance to save more lives.Song Doo-hwan, the chairperson of the rights watchdog, sai
Amid the Omicron wave’s downturn, health officials judged that the numbers of Covid-19 deaths and critical patients also showed declining trends.As of midnight Monday, the number of new confirmed cases stood at 127,190, the lowest figure since 99,562 on Feb. 22, raising the cumulative caseload to 14
Amid the gradual decline of the Omicron wave, the government decided Friday to maintain its social distancing measures for two more weeks, albeit in loosened forms.It will increase the size of private gatherings from eight to 10 people and extend the business curfew from 11:00 p.m. to midnight.This
The government set the maximum reimbursement price of the world’s first CAR-T cell therapy Kymriah (tisagenlecleucel), developed by Novartis, at 360,039,359 won ($296,138) per treatment.It also newly established reimbursement for medical practices for cell collection, in vitro treatment, treatment p
The government has begun a survey of 1,000 people to figure out the long-term aftereffects of the Covid-19 virus.The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA)'s National Institute of Health (NIH) said Thursday it was conducting follow-up investigations of about 1,000 cured Covid-19 patients
The Korea Institute of Drug Safety & Risk Management (KIDS) published a press release to notify a safety risk of SGLT-2 inhibitors based on a study released two years ago.On Wednesday, KIDS released the material titled, “Result of a safety study on SGLT-2 inhibitor, a treatment for type 2 diabetes,