식약처 "아스트라제네카 코로나19 백신 신속허가 준비 중"

New COVID-19 cases in South Korea fell below one hundred.
Health authorities say patients in critical conditions have been treated using antiviral drug Remdesivir.
It added fast approval for potential vaccines and treatments will be granted.
Bae Eun-ji has the details.
South Korea saw 88 new COVID-19 cases on Tuesday,... falling back below one hundred after reaching triple digits the day before.
This raises the total number of cases in the nation to more than 26-thousand.
Among the country's total, 52 patients have severe symptoms, and there were three more deaths.
The KDCA reported that Remdesivir is being used to treat those who have tested positive.
"As of 4 P.M. October 26th, a total of 685 patients in 63 hospitals have taken Remdesivir."
The KDCA added that if new rapid and reliable COVID-19 test kits become available, they will be used to test those without symptoms.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety said it has formed teams of officials to speed up the approval for potential vaccines and treatments for COVID-19...which includes the vaccine candidate developed by AstraZeneca.
The ministry also said that the recent concerns over white particles detected in seasonal flu shots have been proven to be safe.
"Test results for the white particles show that they are proteins from the vaccine's original ingredients,...these particles do not affect the effectiveness of the vaccine or its safety."
Some batches of the flu vaccines were found to have been delivered at room temperature when they should have kept cold.
This raised public concern over the safety of the flu shots, as there were a number of deaths linked to the vaccinations.
Bae Eun-ji, Arirang News.