The U.S. government has decided to provide about a million doses of Janssen's Covid-19 vaccine for Korea's military, the government said Monday.
According to the Covid-19 vaccination team, the U.S. will send 1,012,800 doses of the Janssen vaccine, which will arrive in Korea on June 5 aboard a military aircraft.
The amount is nearly double the volume U.S. President Joe Biden promised to provide during a summit meeting with President Moon Jae-in earlier this month. Officials have decided to vaccinate reservists and members of the civil defense force aged 30 or older with the Janssen vaccine.
Unlike other Covid-19 vaccines, Janssen's vaccine builds immunity with just one jab. However, the duration of immunity is shorter than other vaccines, at six to seven months. Hospitals can store the vaccine for three months at 2-8 degrees Celsius and store the vaccine for a more extended period of up to two years when kept at -25 to -15 degrees Celsius.
The government had decided not to vaccinate those under the age of 30 with Janssen’s vaccine following a review from the expert advisory meeting due to concerns over blood clotting.
Janssen has confirmed its vaccine has a preventive effect of 67 percent through phase 3 clinical trials conducted in seven countries, including the U.S.
According to a follow-up study, the vaccine's efficacy on variant viruses such as the South African and Brazil variants was 64 and 68.1 percent, respectively.
Instead of providing Janssen's vaccine to active service members, the military will administer Pfizer's vaccines to service members aged under the age of 30 from next week.
Around 414,000 South Korean troops are in their 20s and are eligible to take the vaccines for the upcoming round of vaccinations.
The government said that the first batch of 55,000 Moderna's Covid-19 vaccines, initially scheduled to would arrive in Korea on Monday, will come one day later than scheduled.
"Due to local circumstances, the first batch will arrive at Incheon International Airport at 12:45 p.m. on June 1," it said.
Korea has vaccinated 5,403,854 people – 3,272,110 with the AstraZeneca vaccine and 2,131,744 with Pfizer's vaccine – up a drastic 4,797 from the previous day. The figure accounts for 10.5 percent of the country's population.
As the vaccine rollout among the elderly population is accelerating, the government announced that it would ease social distancing guidelines for those who have received at least one shot of the Covid-19 vaccine.
Under the current distancing guidelines, the government allows up to eight immediate family members to gather. However, those who have received at least one shot of the Covid-19 vaccine will be partly exempt from the social distancing rule starting Tuesday.
Health authorities will also allow citizens who have received the first jab of the vaccine to take their masks off outdoors starting in July.
The government aimed to inoculate at least 13 million people by the end of June as part of its goal to achieve herd immunity in November.
“With the additional arrival of Janssen’s vaccine, however, we may have to upgrade the first half-year target to 14 million,” said Sohn Young-rae, a key official at the vaccination team.
On Monday, Korea confirmed 430 new cases, including 411 local infections, the lowest number of daily confirmed cases in 63 days. The cumulative caseload came to 140,340.
The figure, which fell below 500 for the first time in 20 days on Sunday, continued its drop partly due to fewer tests over the weekend.
Two more people died of the Covid-19, raising the death toll to 1,959 with a fatality rate of 1.4 percent. A total of 130,823 people have returned to their daily life after complete recovery, up 442 from the previous day. The country has carried out 9,761,158 tests since Jan. 3 last year.