Saturday marked the 100th day of the government’s Covid-19 vaccination project, which started on Feb. 26.

Contrary to the health authorities' initial expectations for high turnouts, there was considerable vaccine hesitancy among Koreans during the early stage, mainly resulting from safety concerns over the AstraZeneca vaccine.

A Hankook Research survey on 1,000 adults in April showed that only 61.4 percent of the respondents were willing to get vaccinated. Among those unwilling to receive the vaccine, 84 percent cited fears about adverse reactions as the reason.

However, the hesitant atmosphere has turned around recently, with people enthusiastically applying to get vaccines left unused by “no-show" bookers. According to the health authorities, the reservation rate for people aged 60 or older has reached 80.6 percent after completing the reservation process on Thursday.

"Before receiving the vaccination, I was anxious. After getting the first jab, however, I have come to believe it is a good idea to get vaccinated," said Choi Eun-hee, a 65-year-old woman who received her vaccine last week. "I think older adults without conditions do not have to worry (about injection)."

Choi expressed joy that she would be able to see her new grandchildren for the first time in more than a year after receiving her second jab this month.

Young people also have started showing great interest in receiving the vaccine after the government announced that they would provide 1 million Janssen vaccines, provided by the U.S. government, to reservists and members of the civil defense force aged 30 above.

"Of course, I am aware of risks in vaccination. After hearing the government's incentives to be given after vaccination, however, I think advantages outweigh disadvantages," said Yoo Dong-soo, 32, who made a reservation to receive Janssen's vaccine. "I know that most of my friends have also applied to receive Janssen's vaccine. Those who failed to make a reservation showed regrets about not being able to receive the vaccine."

Data at the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) also showed that an increasing number of Koreans are willing to receive the vaccine.

According to the KCDA, it took 39 days to vaccinate one million people, but it took only 17 days to reach the two million mark, and seven days to hit three million.

On Friday, the government announced that if all people who made vaccine reservations show up, it will advance the target date for inoculating 13 million.

As of Saturday, Korea has vaccinated 7,455,726 people – 4,831,847 with the AstraZeneca vaccine and 2,623,879 with Pfizer's vaccine – with the first shot of the vaccine up 397,345 from the previous day. The figure accounts for 14.5 percent of the country's population.