KDCA 'COVID-19 drug supply will be stabilized within August'

“supply be stabilized from the last week of August”

Additional supplies will be available starting this week

Plan to produce and supply over 5 million test kits in August

The government has explained that pharmacies nationwide will have enough COVID-19 drugs by the last week of August.

 

In the case of self-test kits, the government added that it plans to produce and supply more than 5 million kits within August to ensure no shortage.

 

The Ministry of Health and Welfare (Minister Kyoo-hong Cho) held a joint meeting with the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) (Commissioner Young-mee Jee), the Office of the Government Policy Coordination (Minister Ki-sun Bang), the Ministry of Education (Minister Ju-ho Lee), the Ministry of Interior and Safety (Minister Sang-min Lee), Ministry of Food and Drug Safety (Director Yu-Kyoung Oh), and the National Fire Agency (Commissioner Seok-gon Heo) met together on the 14th at 4:30 p.m.

 

to review Korea’s ‘COVID-19 epidemic trend and countermeasures’ in light of the recent increase in COVID-19 infections.

 

The weekly usage of COVID-19 treatments as disclosed by the KDCA increased to exceed 42,000 doses in the 5th week of July, compared to the 1,272 doses used in the 4th week of July, exceeding the amount used during the summer season last year.

 

To address the increased usage, the KDCA plans to supply additional drugs sequentially from this week, so that there will be enough drugs in all pharmacies that supply COVID-19 treatments from the last week of August (8.25~8.31).

 

“We will endeavor to ensure smooth access to the treatment everywhere in the country by the last week of August,” the KDCA said.

 

The Ministry of Health and Welfare plans to promptly review COVID-19 treatments that apply for reimbursement upon approval by the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety by hastening the reimbursement adequacy evaluation, NHIS negotiations, and Health Insurance Policy Review Committee deliberations.

 

The MFDS is closely monitoring the supply of COVID-19 self-test kits and the entire production and distribution process.

 

Domestic manufacturers have been scaling back production of self-test kits since COVID-19 turned endemic, but have recently expanded their production and supply to meet the rise in demand for COVID-19 test kits since late July.

 

Korea’s COVID-19 self-test kit manufacturers own sufficient facilities, technology, and capacity to meet domestic demand, and are expected to produce and supply more than 5 million self-test kits within August.

 

The MFDS added, “Korea’s COVID-19 self-test kit manufacturers have produced 40 million self-test kits per week in the past.”

Meanwhile, the number of hospitalized COVID-19 patients has been increasing again since the end of June, and the number of hospitalized patients reached its peak this year (1,357, provisional) in the second week of August.

 

While respiratory viruses are primarily prevalent during the winter season, COVID-19 has also been prevalent during the summer season (July-August) in 2022 and 2023, and given this trend, the number of COVID-19 patients is expected to continue to increase in the near future.

 

According to the Ministry of Health and Welfare, the number of emergency room visits due to COVID-19 jumped from 2,240 in June to 11,627 in July.

 

The MOHW said, “We plan to establish a cooperative system for hospitalization of COVID-19 patients by securing free beds, mainly in public hospitals that had been previously operated as dedicated COVID-19 hub hospitals.

 

In order to ensure prompt treatment of COVID-19 patients in their local areas according to the pandemic situation, we plan to secure a list of COVID-19 treatment hospitals by local governments in cooperation with the Ministry of the Interior and Safety and local governments, and publish it through the Emergency Medical Services System.” The 2024-2025 COVID-19 vaccination plan will utilize a new vaccine (against the JN.1 strain) that is more effective against strains currently circulating in Korea and around the world.

 

The government is currently in the process of licensing and approving the new vaccine so that it can be administered simultaneously with the flu vaccine in October, and details of the plan will be announced in September.

 

“To respond to the COVID-19 pandemic, we will work with relevant ministries and organizations to secure beds so that COVID-19 patients can be treated promptly, and expedite the procurement of COVId-19 treatments and their reimbursement listing so that high-risk patients can stably receive treatment,” said MOHW Minister Kyoo-hong Cho.

 

“The fatality rate of COVID-19 in Korea in 2023 (January-August), after the Omicron variant outbreak, was in the 0.05% range, and less than 0.01% for those under 50 years old, so there is no need to be overly anxious about the outbreak this summer,” said KDCA Commissioner Young-mee Jee.

 

”We will do our best to ensure that the additional supplies of COVID-19 drugs we secure from next week be supplied smoothly to patients for their convenient use.”