Budget cut 20% despite increased COVID-19 vaccine uptake

National Assembly: “KCDA should increase budget based on 48% uptake, not 42%”

Early vaccine shortage deemed inevitable... concerns rise over declining immunity and rising mortality among seniors aged 65 and older

Experts argue the budget allocation criteria are flawed, as both vaccination numbers and coverage rates are increasing

The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) has cut the national immunization program (NIP) budget for COVID-19 vaccines for the 2026-27 season by 20% compared to the previous year, raising societal concern over potential drops in immunity among high-risk groups like the elderly, increased mortality risk, and the possibility of early vaccine stock depletion.

 

Moreover, the KDCA’s 20% cut to the COVID-19 NIP budget was based on the 2023-2024 season's vaccination rate of 42%, failing to reflect the 48% rate from this season (2024-2025 season).

 

This has drawn criticism as an administrative decision that undermines effective epidemic prevention.

 

The National Assembly Budget Office pointed out that both the number of vaccinated individuals and the coverage rate are on the rise, and has urged the KDCA to raise its target vaccination rate and revise the budget accordingly.

 

The Budget Office recommends increasing the budget from the government’s draft of KRW 175.8 billion to KRW 200.8 billion – a KRW 25 billion increase.

 

On the 10th, the National Assembly Health and Welfare Committee will review the KDCA budget, including the COVID-19 vaccine NIP budget, during its plenary session.

 

The COVID-19 vaccine NIP covers high-risk groups - persons aged 65 and older, residents in communal or institutional facilities aged 6 months to 64 years, and immunocompromised individuals – with the aim of securing immunity and preventing severe illness and death.

 

The KDCA set the 2026 NIP budget based on a vaccination rate of 42%.

 

But looking at recent seasons, the number vaccinated was 2.90 million (39.3%) in 2022-23; 4.10 million (41.3%) in 2023-24; and 4.97 million (47.8%) in 2024-25, it was for the 65+ age group, continuing an upward trend.

 

The major issue highlighted by experts and the Budget Office was that, despite rising vaccine uptake, the KDCA’s budget estimate remains anchored to the 42% figure from the 2023-24 season.

 

Given statistics showing the 2024-2025 season vaccination rate approaching 48%, experts and the Office believe that setting the budget based on an incorrect baseline will inevitably lead to early vaccine depletion if the vaccination levels stay the same or increase, making it impossible to achieve the target vaccination rate.

 

The argument is that recognizing the vaccine budget as an investment rather than an expense and rationally increasing the budget for infectious disease response is necessary to prevent potential outbreaks among high-risk groups and increases in mortality rates.

 

In fact, 5.3 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines were secured this year based on last year's vaccination rate.

 

However, increased uptake due to simultaneous COVID-19 and flu vaccination campaigns by health authorities and local governments led to vaccine shortages at some medical institutions just 2 weeks after the National Immunization Program (NIP) began.

 

The NIP is a public health investment to protect citizens' lives.

 

Prioritizing long-term effects over short-term costs will lead to socioeconomic benefits, including reduced healthcare expenses, alleviated burden on the medical system, and maintained national productivity.

 

Furthermore, since the 2023 declaration of endemic status, COVID-19 has continued to mutate repeatedly, with the number of hospitalized patients and mortality rates constantly being reported.

 

According to the KDCA’s infectious disease portal sample surveillance results, the number of COVID-19 hospitalizations last year was approximately 3 times that of influenza hospitalizations.

 

The mortality rate was also higher for COVID-19 hospitalized patients at 5.97%, compared to 3.75% for influenza hospitalized patients.

 

In the National Assembly, lawmakers, including Representative Jin-sook Jeon and Representative Nam-hee Kim of the Democratic Party of Korea, have been scrutinizing the KDCA's unreasonable NIP budget cuts.

 

In response, the NA Budget and Planning Office has proposed the need to increase next year's NIP budget to reflect the rising trend in COVID-19 vaccination numbers and rates.

 

The request is to increase the budget by KRW 25 billion, raising it from the KDCA's budget of KRW 175.8 billion (based on a 42% target vaccination rate) to KRW 200.8 billion (based on a 48% vaccination rate).

 

The Budget and Planning Office analyzed, “Considering the recent trend of increasing COVID-19 NIP vaccinated individuals and vaccination rates across all 3 seasons, there seems to be a need to increase the project budget.

 

Calculating the budget based on raising the target vaccination rate from 42% to 48% (a 6 percentage point increase) results in an estimated KRW 200.8 billion, an additional KRW 25 billion .”