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SOuth Korea’s medical association has said the government should suspend a flu vaccination program following the death of at least 13 people who received an injection in recent days.
Health authorities said they have found no direct links between the deaths and the vaccines, but Choi Dae-zip, president of the Korean Medical Association, told a news conference that the inoculation program should be suspended until the government guarantees safety. of vaccines.
The government had planned to vaccinate some 19 million people for free. The deaths, which include a 17-year-old boy and a 70-year-old man, come just one week after the free flu vaccination program for teens and seniors was restarted.
The program was suspended for three weeks after it was discovered that some 5 million doses, which must be refrigerated, had been exposed to room temperature while being transported to a medical facility.
South Korean vaccines come from a variety of sources. Manufacturers include local drugmakers GC Pharma, SK Bioscience and Ilyang Pharmaceutical Co, along with France’s Sanofi and Britain’s Glaxosmithkline. Distributors include LG Chem Ltd and Boryung Biopharma Co. Ltd., a unit of Boryung Pharm Co. Ltd ..
GC Pharma, LG Chem, SK Bioscience and Boryung declined to comment. Ilyang Pharmaceutical, Sanofi and GSK could not immediately be reached for comment.
Officials said 8.3 million people have been inoculated with the free flu vaccine since it was resumed on Oct. 13, and about 350 cases of adverse reactions were reported.
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