The government will start Covid-19 vaccination for infants and toddlers from 6 months to 4 years old from Feb. 13.
The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA)’s Covid-19 Vaccination Response Promotion Team said Friday that it would start Covid-19 vaccination for infants and young children to protect high-risk infants and toddlers in response to the continued resurgence and new variants.
The target for vaccination is from infants born in 2018 whose birthday has yet to pass as of January this year to infants born in July 2022 whose birthday has passed. The government stressed that it highly recommends vaccination for infants and toddlers in the high-risk group at risk of serious illness or death due to weakened immunity or underlying diseases.
For vaccination, the government will use Pfizer’s vaccine introduced on Jan. 12, and infants and toddlers eligible for the vaccination will receive three injections conducted at intervals of eight weeks.
As high-risk infants and toddlers are the main targets for vaccination, tertiary general hospitals and general hospitals will also provide the vaccination.
Parents that wish to vaccinate their infants and toddlers can do so at about 1,000 designated medical institutions capable of treating infants and young children, which will be available on the Covid-19 vaccination website from next Monday.
Reservations can be made online or by phone from Monday, and reservation vaccinations will start from Feb. 20, while same-day vaccination will be available from Feb. 13.
According to quarantine officials, while infants and toddlers generally do not have a higher risk of severe illness or death from Covid-19 than adults, they have confirmed that they are at higher risk than children (5-11 years old) and adolescents (12-17 years old) who have received the vaccination.
Also, the KDCA explained that as the period from the onset of symptoms or diagnosis to death is very short for infants, timely medical treatment can be difficult, so vaccination is more important.
“As various studies have confirmed the efficacy and safety of vaccination for infants and young children even if they are not in the high-risk group, the government will be providing vaccination opportunities for all age groups,” the KDCA said. “Most advanced countries have also implemented vaccination for infants and toddlers.”
On Friday, Korea added 31,711 new Covid-19 infections, including 49 cases from abroad, bringing the total caseload to 30,107,363, according to the KDCA.
The nation also reported 36 more Covid-19 deaths, raising the death toll to 33,332. In addition, the number of critically ill patients reached 481, down eight from the previous day.