[Second Half Work Report] Unified Infectious Disease Bed Management... Phase 2 Clinical Trials for Domestic mRNA Vaccine to Begin

Nationwide Testing Network for Emerging Infectious Diseases to Be Established Within 30 Days
Priority Review for Introduction of HPV 9-Valent and Elderly Vaccines
AI-Based Infectious Disease Surveillance and Epidemiological Investigation System to Be Introduced

The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) will unify the management system for infectious disease hospital beds in the second half of the year and launch Phase 2 clinical trials for a COVID-19 messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) vaccine. The agency will also introduce an infectious disease surveillance and epidemiological investigation system utilizing artificial intelligence (AI), and is reviewing the introduction of the HPV 9-valent vaccine and a high-immunogenicity influenza vaccine for the elderly as part of the national immunization program.

On July 16, at the Yeongbingwan Hall in the Blue House, the KDCA presented these as key policy tasks in its ’2026 Second Half Presidential Work Report.’ For the second half of this year, it aims to pursue seven major initiatives: ▲ advancing the new infectious disease crisis response system ▲ promoting domestic production of infectious disease vaccines and therapeutics ▲ strengthening continuous infectious disease prevention and management ▲ enhancing the national immunization system ▲ providing tailored management for non-communicable diseases by life cycle ▲ transitioning to AI- and data-based future disease control ▲ preemptively establishing systems to address future health threats.

To prepare for the domestic inflow of new infectious diseases, a 24-hour response system will be maintained with participation from the headquarters, regional disease response centers, and local governments. By December, a simultaneous testing method capable of detecting five syndromes—respiratory, hemorrhagic fever, rash, diarrhea, and neurological—will be established. The agency also aims to develop a system that can establish a nationwide network of testing laboratories within 30 days of a new infectious disease outbreak.

Seungkwan Lim, Director of the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency, is speaking at a briefing held on the 10th of last month at the National Central Human Body Resource Bank in Cheongju, Chungbuk. Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency

The management system for infectious disease hospital beds, currently split between the KDCA and the Ministry of Health and Welfare, will be integrated under the KDCA. Infectious disease management institutions will be re-designated by level (central, regional, local, and neighborhood) by December, and in August, a manual outlining social response principles for infectious disease outbreaks will be prepared.

Efforts to localize the production of vaccines and therapeutics will continue. The domestic COVID-19 mRNA vaccine, which began Phase 1 clinical trials in December last year, is scheduled to begin Phase 2 trials in August. The KDCA will also develop a Korean vaccine development engine, ‘K-AI PPX,’ which uses AI to support pathogen analysis, antigen design, and clinical trial entry.

The agency plans to establish a so-called ‘Infectious Disease Clinical Research and Analysis Center’ to oversee national clinical research and data analysis for infectious diseases, targeting completion by 2030. The ‘4th Infectious Disease Crisis Response Technology Development Promotion Strategy,’ outlining the direction for national R&D in this field, will be formulated as well.

In the area of ongoing infectious disease management, efforts to eradicate malaria by 2030 will be strengthened by enhancing surveillance in high-risk areas, early detection of cases, and support for complete cure. Expanded sentinel surveillance institutions, increased from 300 to 800 locations this year, will be used to compile respiratory infectious disease statistics for each region.

To curb the spread of carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE) infections, intervention models tailored to each medical institution’s risk factors will be developed, and training simulations and consulting will be provided to local and small-to-medium-sized hospitals. Additional general hospitals with more than 300 beds will be recruited in November to participate in a pilot project for appropriate antibiotic use management.

The procedures for introducing vaccines into the national immunization program will also be improved. The period between product approval and inclusion in the national immunization program will be shortened, and new candidate vaccines for introduction will be selected in the second half of the year. The HPV 9-valent vaccine, the high-immunogenicity influenza vaccine for the elderly, and the pneumococcal conjugate vaccine for the elderly have been set as priority candidates for review.

The ‘Vaccine Quality Management and Safe Immunization System Improvement Plan,’ which improves reporting and information sharing for vaccine quality issues, will be announced in September. In addition to voluntary reporting by medical institutions, an active surveillance system for early detection of adverse reactions will also be implemented.

Support for rare and chronic diseases will be expanded. By 2027, two additional specialized institutions will be designated in regions lacking rare disease centers, increasing the nationwide number from 19 to 21. The income and property requirements for supporters, which are currently applied when providing medical expense support to rare disease patients, will be lifted for some diseases in 2027 and expanded to cover all rare diseases by 2028.

Hypertension and diabetes registration and education centers will be reorganized as the so-called Integrated Chronic Disease Management Centers. The eligibility for support will be expanded from those aged 30 and older to all age groups, with a focus on increasing the number of operational areas in medically underserved regions.

The KDCA will also introduce disease control services utilizing AI. Personalized health habit analysis will be provided to participants in community health surveys, and AI will be applied to automatic collection of overseas infectious disease information, multilingual quarantine surveys, epidemiological investigations, risk assessment support, and detection of misleading information about infectious diseases. A database linking immunization records for five specified infectious diseases, including chickenpox, will also be developed.

To address heat waves, standard clinical guidelines for five types of heat-related illnesses such as heat stroke will be established, and the second Climate Health Impact Assessment will be conducted. Life cycle-specific injury prevention programs, including fall prevention for the elderly, and safety guidelines for medical radiation targeting children and pregnant women will also be developed.

In order to strengthen local response capabilities for infectious diseases, the number of excellent pathogen identification institutions will be increased from 9 in the Seoul Metropolitan Area to 15 nationwide. The KDCA will also pursue the completion of the National Advanced Vaccine Development Center and the establishment of the National Cardiovascular Center and National Healthy Aging Research Institute.

Im Seunggwan, Commissioner of the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency, said, "In the second half of the year, we will further enhance our crisis response system and strengthen vaccine and therapeutic localization capabilities with a tremendous sense of responsibility to protect the lives of our people."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.