S. Korea achieves 13-mln vaccination goal earlier than scheduled

Bishkek, June 15, 2021 . / Kabar / . South Korea on Tuesday achieved its vaccination goal of inoculating over 13 million people, or a quarter of the country's 51.3 million population, earlier than scheduled amid its accelerating vaccination drive, boding well for its scheme to create herd immunity by November, Yonhap News Agency reported citing the health authorities.

A total of slightly more than 13 million people had received their first shots of COVID-19 vaccines as of 2:30 p.m., accounting for some 25 percent of the country's population, since the country started its vaccination program on Feb. 26, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA).

The country earlier announced a goal to vaccinate at least 13 million people by the end of June, and up to 14 million people by the end of this month, and up to 36 million people by September.

The nation aims to achieve herd immunity in November but hopes to reach its goal earlier with the increased vaccine rollout.

The country's inoculations topped the 1-million mark on April 5, and the inoculation drive has sped up recently as the country began inoculating seniors aged 60-64.

Reserve forces, civil defense members, and others in charge of defense and foreign affairs aged between 30 and 60 also began receiving the first batch of Johnson & Johnson's Janssen vaccine.

Health authorities said they will also resume administering AstraZeneca vaccines to people aged under 30 that was temporarily stopped for blood clot concerns.

Moderna vaccines will also begin being provided to medical personnel and medical students aged under 30 later this week.

To encourage more citizens to get vaccinated, the country plans to allow people who have received their first jabs to take their masks off outdoors starting in July as its first step to normalize everyday lives.

The government is also looking to offer more incentives to vaccinated people to boost its inoculation campaign, such as giving exemptions from the private gathering ban and outdoor mask wearing.

The government announced it is pushing to allow overseas group tours of fully vaccinated citizens to nations with stable virus response measures as early as next month.

On Tuesday, the country reported 347 more COVID-19 cases, including 347 local infections, raising the total caseload to 148,647, the KDCA said.