Despite uncertain vaccine supply, the government on Wednesday reassured that it would complete giving the second shots to 36 million people by November to achieve herd immunity as initially planned.
Officials said Korea is arranging various swap options with the U.S. to secure enough vaccines to accomplish the immunization goal amid the global supply shortage. However, the U.S. Department of State refused to comment on details about the discussions on the vaccine swap with Korea, saying it is “confidential.”
Korea has secured vaccines for 79 million people, but it is increasingly uncertain whether the preordered amount will arrive on schedule.
Moreover, the U.S., Europe and other major countries are competing to stockpile as many vaccines as possible to immunize their people first. For instance, the U.S. government is considering “booster shots” to give third jabs to Americans.
Deputy Prime Minister Hong Nam-ki, who doubles as acting prime minister due to the resignation of Chung Sye-kyun, asked the people to stay alert against infections while keeping faith in the government's quarantine and vaccination capabilities.
"The government would speed up securing and inoculating people to immunize three million people by the end of April, and complete giving the first shot to 12 million by the first half of the year," Hong said. "We will increase the number of vaccination centers to 204 by Thursday and 264 by the end of the month."
Health authorities have vaccinated 1,832,004 people – 1,093,182 with the AstraZeneca vaccine and 738,822 with Pfizer's vaccine. They confirmed 12,533 adverse cases, including 128 suspected anaphylaxis cases, 34 seizure cases, and 51 deaths.
As the Covid-19 spread furiously in schools and cram schools after their reopening in March, the Ministry of Education decided to conduct stringent inspections in the next three weeks. More than 2,000 new virus cases have been confirmed at elementary and second schools alone.
Apart from the ongoing testing for suspected patients and those who have contacted confirmed patients, the government plans to conduct PCR tests at elementary, middle, and high school students and faculty members who wish to be tested regardless of showing symptoms.
The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KCDA) confirmed 731 new patients, including 692 local infections, increasing the cumulative caseload to 115,926 as of midnight Tuesday. Imported infections rose to 39 from 20 recorded in the previous day.
The resurge of confirmed patients by nearly 200 from Tuesday was due to the end of the “weekend effect,” meaning fewer tests on Saturdays and Sundays leading to lowered occurrences on Mondays and Tuesdays, officials said.
Four more people died of the Covid-19, pushing the death toll to 1,806 with a fatality rate of 1.56 percent. The number of fully recovered people in the country rose to 105,877, with 650 newly recovered patients. The country has tested 8,497,594 people since Jan. 3 last year.
Korea decided to maintain the current level of social distancing rules through May 2 to contain the virus while placing more restrictions on entertainment establishments, such as nightclubs and bars, but the country may adjust the alert level if infections continue to rise.
The greater Seoul area, home to half of the nation's 52-million population, is under the Level 2 distancing scheme, the third-highest in the five-phase system. The rest of the country is under Level 1.5, except for some municipalities that have adopted Level 2 measures.
Private gatherings of five or more people are banned nationwide.