Korean Elderly Increasingly Hesitant to Get COVID Vaccine

It looks like South Korea is having the same problem many other countries are having with vaccine hesitancy:

Deaths following Pfizer jabs are exceeding those after AstraZeneca shots, although experts say that many of the casualties were over the age of 74, with weaker immune systems and pre-existing medical conditions.  

Since the vaccination program began on Feb. 26, a total of 153 cases of death after inoculation had been reported as of Monday, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA). Pfizer accounted for 93 cases and AstraZeneca 60.  (……….)  

Enthusiasm for the shots isn’t high. As of Monday, the booking rate for Covid-19 vaccinations — the percentage of people in an age group who have made reservations — was only 55.9 percent among people aged 60 to 74, who are eligible for the AstraZeneca vaccine. The booking rate for people between the ages of 60 to 64 was only 47.4 percent.  (……….)

Health authorities, however, explained that none of the deaths reported so far are related to the vaccinations.  

“On the elderly without underlying diseases who died after inoculation, we could find the causes of death through an autopsy, such as cardiac infarction, heart rupture or pulmonary embolism,” an official from the KDCA told the Korea JoongAng Daily.  

“We don’t think there is a meaningful difference [between AstraZeneca and Pfizer in terms of deaths] seeing the situations abroad,” the official added.  

The death rate per 100,000 vaccinated people was similar between Pfizer (2.71 per 100,000 people) and AstraZeneca (2.62 per 100,000 people), and those results were similar to other countries, according to the KDCA.  

For example, in the U.K. where a larger number of inoculations have being done, there were 3.19 deaths per 100,000 people for Pfizer, and 3.29 for AstraZeneca. 

Joong Ang Ilbo

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