South Korean health officials said Sunday that they would move forward with a plan to vaccinate adults between the ages of 30 and 60 with AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine after suspending the program last week due to fears of a blood clotting issue.
Multiple news sources reported that the Korean Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) issued a statement indicating that vaccinations would resume Monday. Officials said that the benefits of vaccination do not outweigh the risks of the blood clotting issue believed to be presented by AstraZeneca’s vaccine for those under the age of 30.
“The benefits are not as great for those under 30 years old, so we will not recommend the AstraZeneca vaccine for them,” said Choi Eun-hwa, chair of the Korea Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, according to Reuters.
Several European nations suspended use of the AstraZeneca vaccine last month pending a review of the blood clotting issue by the European Medicine Agency. Those countries then resumed vaccinations using AstraZeneca’s vaccine days later as countries faced a surge of new COVID-19 cases.
One person in South Korea was determined to have a blood clotting issue after vaccination that correlated with AstraZeneca’s vaccine, Choi Eun-hwa added Sunday, while stressing that the blood clotting issue discovered in the South Korean patient was less severe than similar reports from Europe.