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. 2023 Oct 20;22:224. doi: 10.1186/s12939-023-02034-x

Table 2.

COVID-19 vaccine policies of Korea

Aspects COVID-19 vaccine policies

Basic vaccination

plan

1. Phase I vaccination: February 26, 2021 for high-risk medical institution employees, nursing home elderly and staff

2. Phase II vaccination: from March 15, 2021 for the elderly over 65 years old, disabled welfare facility employees, wider medical and nursing staff, chronic disease patients (high-risk groups of dialysis patients, chronic kidney disease, etc.), and socially necessary manpower (police, marine police, firefighters, soldiers, aircrews, etc.)

3. Phase III vaccination: General public aged 18–64 from July 19, 2021

4. Phase IV vaccination: Children and adolescents aged 12–17 years and pregnant women from August 30, 2021

5. Phase V Vaccination: All unvaccinated people over 18 years of age from October 1, 2021
Vaccine procurement and supply

1. February 2021, the Korea Center for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) signed contracts for all Pfizer vaccines available for early supply: the government received 3 million doses of COVID-19 Pfizer vaccine

2. April 24, 2021, signing of an additional contract for 40 million doses of Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine for a total of 66 million doses;

3. May 13, 2021, Launch of 835,000 doses of COVAX-AstraZeneca vaccine on May 13, 2021;

4. May 27, 2021, 1.069 million additional vaccine supply contracted by AstraZeneca completing the first half of the year with 10.811/18.38 million doses;

5. June 2021,1 million doses of Janssen vaccine donated in the United States;

6. July 6, 2021, advance supply of 700,000 doses of Pfizer vaccine through a vaccine exchange with Israel;

7. September 1, 2021, introducing 1.5 million doses of vaccine through a health partnership with Romania;

8. September 17, 2021, introducing 871,000 doses of individually contracted Moderna vaccine program, for a cumulative total of 66.38 million doses;

9. October 26, 2021,first introduction of approximately 2,435,000 doses of Moderna vaccine in Korea;

10. November 5, 2021, signing of a contract for 30 million additional doses of Pfizer vaccine for 2022;

11. December 23, 2021, signing of the 2022 Moderna procurement contract for 20 million doses and completion of the mRNA procurement contract for 80 million doses;

12. February 10,2022, Novavax vaccine introduction of 55.1 million;

13. February 11, 2022, introducing 294,000 doses being introduced for a total of 6.35 million doses;

14. April 21, 2022, introducing 492,000 doses of Janssen vaccine;

15. September 27, 2022, introducing a total of 5 million doses of bivalent vaccine based on Moderna BA.1;

16. November 3, 2022, introducing approximately 1.18 million doses of Pfizer BA.4/5 bivalent vaccine in South Korea;

17. January 12, 2023, introducing approximately 400,000 doses of Pfizer infant (6 months to 4 years) vaccine in South Korea
Vaccine development

1. From June 2021, the Public Vaccine Development Center of the National Institute of Infectious Diseases completed biosafety level III certification to fully support the development of the domestic COVID-19 vaccine;

2. June 29, 2022, the first Korean COVID-19 vaccine developed by SK Bioscience, licensed for the SkyCorvione vaccine program by the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety;

3. August 26, 2022, Approved shipment of SkyCoB1 multi-injection vaccine for the vaccination implementation program
Vaccination of minors

1. August 30, 2021 The Expert Committee on Vaccination recommends the inclusion of children and adolescents aged 12–17 years in the vaccination population;

2. March 31, 2022 initial vaccination of children (5–11 years old);

3. February 13, 2023 start of infant Pfizer vaccination of infants (6 months to 4 years) in 1000 individually designated and commissioned healthcare facilities with infant and child treatment and emergency response capabilities
Vaccination booster

First dose booster vaccination:

1. December 1, 2012, 1 month for the elderly to receive the 3rd dose intensively;

2. from January 6, 2021, for those aged 18–59 years who have reached the interval between vaccinations, the 3rd vaccination is required in January;

3. from March 21, 2022, 3rd vaccination for adolescents (12–17 years old)

Fourth vaccination for specific groups:

1. from 14 April 2022, the 4th vaccination for people aged 60 years or older;

2. from July 18, 2022, vaccination of persons over 50 years of age in all age groups more than 4 months after the end of the 3rd vaccination, persons over 18 years of age with underlying disease, residents and staff of facilities susceptible to infection

Corona 19 bivalent vaccination booster dose:

1. October 11, 2022, start of additional vaccination against COVID-19 in winter;

2. October 27, 2022, bivalent vaccination of adults 18 years and older;

3. December 12, 2022, start of Corona 19 bivalent vaccination for adolescents aged 12–17 years
Vaccination Incentives Designate the month of November 21 to December 18, 2022 as an intensive winter booster vaccination period, offering incentives based on vaccination status and vaccination rates. First, it is planned to offer discounts on temple stays, discounts on cultural experiences such as free visits to old palaces and tombs, and discounts when using facilities under the jurisdiction of each local government. In addition, incentives will be given to infection-prone facilities and local governments with high infection rates, and points will be added to various assessments and subsidies will be provided.
Compulsory vaccination From December 16, 2021, the third vaccination is mandatory: 3 months (90 days) after the 2nd vaccination, and the 3rd vaccination must be given within 12 months.
Supporting Policies

1. February 8, 2021, commencement of the registration management function for vaccination of target populations, verification and correction of the list of vaccination recipients at target institutions, and confirmation that target populations can be processed through the system;

2. February 24, 2021,Opening of vaccination management function, where vaccinated people can obtain vaccination certificates on government and vaccination assistant websites after vaccination; introduction of blockchain-based digital vaccination certificates to supplement problems such as forgery and alteration of paper certificates;

3. April 2, 2021, the principle of zero tolerance by social communication teams for key quarantine violations such as not wearing a mask;

4. May 12, 2021, the establishment of "infection control subsidies (fees)" to strengthen quarantine management such as pre-inspection and on-site inspection of multi-purpose facilities to promote quarantine inspection;

5. May 17, 2021, the subsidy for medical expenses for patients with serious illnesses excluded from compensation due to insufficient causality was introduced;

6. June 1, 2021,gradual adjustment of quarantine regulations for vaccinated persons;

7. September 8, 2021,Strengthening of quarantine management, such as the operation of the access control system for medical institutions