While the whole world is trying to curb the spread of the COVID-19 epidemic, there is a country that continues to have problems with vaccine delivery, and that is South Korea, which is well-known in the film and idol industries around the world.
According to the South Korean Health Department on Saturday (9/4), the survey showed that about 140 people were vaccinated with Pfizer and BNT vaccines with doubts! According to relevant personnel, the batch of vaccines administered has already or almost exceeded the vaccine’s shelf life after it has been thawed, which means that the protection rate of this batch of vaccines is almost zero.
The news first came from Yonhap News Agency, and the Guro Hospital of Korea University in South Seoul confirmed the authenticity of this news on the 4th. The hospital stated that the vaccines administered to the public from August 26 to 27 were due to medical staff accidentally using a batch of expired, immediate vaccines that should have been discarded. Among the 147 people who were vaccinated, some even experienced complications that were different from the general side effects and were rushed to the emergency room for treatment. This is how the hospital began investigating the incident. In addition, hospitals in the Daegu region also reported on the 4th that 7 people had received an expired Pfizer (BNT) negligence, and it has now been scheduled to re-vaccinate after 3 weeks.
The South Korean Agency for Health and Disease Management believes that vaccination with a vaccine that exceeded the shelf life after thawing has no safety concerns and will not cause more serious side effects. But at the same time, we need to worry about whether the protection rate of this batch of vaccines has been reduced or even ineffective.
However, such a mistake has not happened for the first time in South Korea. Between August 26th and September 2nd of this year, the Dongjiang Hospital in Dongchuan, Weishan District, South Korea, also had an expired vaccine. At that time, 91 people were affected and needed to be vaccinated again, but no abnormal complications were reported this time.
Such frequent mistakes will waste medical resources and cause people’s distrust of the government and medical system. This will only harm curbing the spread of the epidemic. Therefore, South Korea’s current epidemic situation is severely tested.
Regarding the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) relaxed the storage conditions of the Pfizer/BNT vaccine in February, allowing storage at standard freezing temperatures of minus 15 degrees Celsius to minus 25 degrees Celsius for 2 weeks. As for the thawed Pfizer/BNT vaccine must be diluted within 2 hours and used within 6 hours at 2°C to 25°C. Vaccines that are not used immediately after dilution must be stored in refrigerated equipment at 2°C to 8°C and used within 120 hours.
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