South Korea to begin COVID-19 vaccinations for general public in third quarter

SEOUL: South Korea said on Thursday (Jan 28) it would begin COVID-19 vaccinations for the general public in the third quarter of this year, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) director Jeong Eun-kyeong told a news briefing.

Inoculations would begin in February starting with key groups, including medical workers and the elderly in nursing homes, Jeong said.

The country said it aimed to reach "herd immunity" levels through mass vaccinations by November.

READ: South Korea reports big jump in COVID-19 cases on outbreaks in Christian schools

South Korean authorities are scrambling to contain coronavirus outbreaks centred around Christian schools as the country reported a jump in infections, dampening hopes of a speedy exit from a third wave of the pandemic.

A total of 297 COVID-19 cases had been traced to six churches and mission schools run by a Christian organisation, senior health official Yoon Tae-ho said on Wednesday.

South Korea had managed to keep the virus under control thanks to aggressive testing and contact-tracing, but a third wave that broke out late last year has proven more difficult to contain.

The KDCA has said that 45.4 per cent of infections in the country over the past year were caused by cluster infections emerging from specific close-knit groups. Religious facilities were the main source of such clusters.

BOOKMARK THIS: Our comprehensive coverage of the coronavirus outbreak and its developments

Download our app or subscribe to our Telegram channel for the latest updates on the coronavirus outbreak: https://cna.asia/telegram