SEOUL (Reuters) – South Korea on Monday sought to allay concerns over the safety of its seasonal influenza vaccine, urging citizens to avoid straining the health system, which is already reeling from the coronavirus.
Public concerns about the safety of the flu vaccine have risen after vaccinations killed at least 59 people this month, while nearly a million doses had to be disposed of last month because they were not stored at the recommended temperature.
Officials say they have found no direct link between the death and the flu vaccine, which kills at least 3,000 South Koreans each year.
“Trust the conclusion of health officials … arrived after a review with experts,” said President Moon Jae-in.
“Influenza vaccinations need to be expanded this year not only to prevent the spread of the flu, but also to prevent the spread of joint infections and the flu and Covid-19,” he told a news conference.
Last year, more than 1,500 elderly people died within seven days of receiving flu vaccines, but those deaths were not linked to vaccinations, the government said.
South Korea, which launched free inoculations for the last eligible group on Monday, has ordered 20% more flu vaccines this year to rule out the possibility of a simultaneous outbreak of the flu and coronavirus in the winter, which would strain its health system.
It said more than 14.7 million people had been inoculated.
About 1,200 instances of adverse reactions have been reported between them, but no direct link has been established with vaccination, although 13 people are still being investigated.
The health ministry said the benefits of vaccination outweigh any side effects.
Severe adverse reactions to the flu vaccine are rare, with only one or a million people out of 500,000 suffering from anaphylactic shock, life-threatening conditions are usually brought to people with allergies in seconds to minutes, a top health official said in a briefing on Monday. .
No such cases have been reported, the government said.
The South-East Asian city of Singapore this week became one of the first nations to temporarily suspend the use of two influenza vaccines as a precaution, despite reports of no deaths.
South Korea said the influenza infection rate fell to 1.2 per 1,000 people in the week of October 11, from 4.6 in the previous week.
(Interactive Graphic Tracking Global Spread of Coronavirus: Here)
Reporting by Sangami Tea; Edited by Myong Kim and Clarence Fernandez
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