- Presumed population immunity to SARS-CoV-2 in South Korea, April 2022
-
Eun Jung Jang, Young June Choe, Seung Ah Choe, Yoo-Yeon Kim, Ryu Kyung Kim, Jia Kim, Do Sang Lim, Ju Hee Lee, Seonju Yi, Sangwon Lee, Young-Joon Park
-
Osong Public Health Res Perspect. 2022;13(5):377-381. Published online October 14, 2022
-
DOI: https://doi.org/10.24171/j.phrp.2022.0209
-
-
 Graphical Abstract
 Abstract
 PDF
 - Objectives
We estimated the overall and age-specific percentages of the Korean population
with presumed immunity against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARSCoV-2) as of April 2022 using the national registry.
Methods
We used the national coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) infection and vaccination
registry from South Korea, as described to define individuals with a previous history of
COVID-19 infection, vaccination, or both, as persons with presumed immunity.
Results
Of a total of 53,304,627 observed persons, 24.4% had vaccination and infection, 58.1%
had vaccination and no infection, 7.6% had infection and no vaccination, and 9.9% had no
immunity. The SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant emerged at a time when the presumed population
immunity ranged from 80% to 85%; however, nearly half of the children were presumed to
have no immunity.
Conclusion
We report a gap in population immunity, with lower presumed protection in
children than in adults. The approach presented in this work can provide valuable informed
tools to assist vaccine policy-making at a national level.
|
