Is there a shortage of chickenpox vaccines?

A sense of crisis in the medical field

Concerns grow around related academic societies

Contrary to the opinions of the medical community, SK Bio and GC Pharma said, "There is no problem in supplying chickenpox vaccines." The shortage of influenza (flu) vaccines in the second half of this year is causing confusion due to concerns that chickenpox vaccines may also be insufficient.

 

Pharmaceutical and bio companies that produce chickenpox vaccines say there is no problem with supply, but there are already opinions that they should prepare for the shortage of vaccines at medical sites centered on related societies.

 

According to the medical and pharmaceutical industries on the 25th, GC Pharma's "Barycela" is currently available for vaccination.

 

There are 'Vari-L Vaccine' by Boranpharma and Sky Varicella by SK Bioscience.

 

Among them, as the government recently declared "With Corona", there are opinions concerned about the increase in the number of people with infectious diseases such as flu and chickenpox at the medical site.

 

Professor Eom Joong-sik (Infectious Medicine) at Gil Hospital said, "According to related data, infectious medicine doctors believe that the rate of wearing masks has definitely fallen.

 

Considering that the flu and chickenpox are often occurring, the amount of contact is increasing." Accordingly, medical scientists and societies are concerned about the shortage of chickenpox vaccines and are preparing for the possible shortage of vaccines through changes in vaccination guidelines internally.

 

There is a sense of crisis due to the fact that they already experienced a shortage of flu vaccines in the second half of the year.

 

Currently, the government is vaccinating chickenpox vaccines free of charge for infants 12 to 15 months old.

 

A KAPID executive said, "GC Pharma has stopped supplying chickenpox boxes and the launch of a next-generation vaccine, an alternative item, is also being delayed.

 

It was originally scheduled to be released last year, but it was postponed to early this year, but we haven't heard of the release plan yet.

 

As a result, we believe there is a possibility that the launch will be delayed further, he hinted.

 

Another KAPID executive said, "In the case of chickenpox, if there is a shortage of vaccines, we are internally sharing the opinion that new, that is, initial vaccinations should be delayed and patients subject to secondary vaccinations should be vaccinated first." He then said, "It hasn't happened yet, so we're preparing for now." He said, "It would be fortunate if SK Bioscience, which accounts for the largest volume, supplies it normally." Pharmaceutical and bio companies that are supplying chickenpox vaccines to Korea say there is no problem at the moment.

 

They say they are overly concerned at the clinical site.

 

GC Pharma explains that it can supply its new product Barycela in earnest from the second half of this year, replacing Suduvax, which has decided to suspend supply.

 

It is true that the plan to start supply in January this year after obtaining product approval in March last year has been delayed due to problems such as prolonged Corona and delayed NIP registration, but it has entered the normalization stage from the second half of the year.

 

An official from GC Pharma said, "After deciding to stop supplying Suduvax, we will be able to supply Barycela, which was developed as a next-generation vaccine, without any problems.

 

As a result of internal confirmation, we believe that the supply is going well enough." SK Bioscience, which accounts for the largest portion of the domestic chickenpox vaccine supply, is in a position that there will be no problem in supplying vaccines like GC Pharma.

 

An official from SK Bioscience said, "As of the third quarter, Sky Varicella's share among chickenpox vaccines in Korea was 43%," and emphasized, "In the case of flu vaccines, there were some difficulties in producing and supplying chickenpox vaccines."