President Moon Jae-in said Thursday that the government would make Korea one of the top-five global vaccine powerhouses by 2025.

Moon explained that the government plans to invest 2.2 trillion won ($1.92 billion) in developing and manufacturing vaccines over the next five years by designating vaccines as one of the three national strategic technologies along with semiconductors and batteries.

The plan calls for sharply expanding tax and financial support for investment into vaccine-related R&D activities, facilities, technologies of essential materials, parts, and equipment.

"We will build up a platform to become a global vaccine hub by actively drawing foreign investments and attracting global companies and expand vaccine partnerships with Germany and the U.K.," the President said. "As we  speed up to localize the core production technology of messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA), we might be able to enter clinical trials in early 2022."

At a Cheong Wa Dae meeting, Minister of Health and Welfare Kwon Deok-chul explained in detail the government’s vision and strategy to become a global vaccine hub.

Kwon said that the government aims to develop the first domestic Covid-19 vaccine by the first half of 2022. Seven companies are conducting clinical trials of Covid-19 vaccines, and some are expected to enter phase 3 trials in the second half of the year.

Korea will invest 166.7 billion won ($145.7 million) to support the phase 3 clinical trials of Covid-19 vaccines. The nation also plans to pre-purchase vaccines that have drawn interim results of the phase 2 study and received approval for the next phase after considering immunogenicity, safety, and the possibility of success, Kwon said.

The government will also support up to 3 billion won per company to expand vaccine production capacity and help commercialize vaccines developed by companies that do not have their own GMP grade facilities with public manufacturing facilities, he added.

However, private experts said that doubts are increasing about the effectiveness of vaccines, as the breakthrough infection increased amid the appearances of various Covid-19 variants with far greater contagious power.

In response, health officials said the number of breakthrough cases remains small, and there is still no data indicating that the incidence of breakthrough infection is higher due to the Delta variant.

"There are no study results that the Delta variants increase breakthrough infections,” said Park Young-joon, head of epidemiological survey, in a daily briefing. "Based on the data we provide every week, breakthrough infections can occur, but the rate and the risk are quite low."

The breakthrough incidences occur 17 per 100,000 people who have completed the vaccination, he added.

The government has vaccinated 20,336,252 people – 10,416,623 with the AstraZeneca vaccine, 7,903,251 with Pfizer's vaccine, 1,129,767 with Janssen's vaccine, 886,611 with Moderna's vaccine – with the first shot of the vaccine up 164,924 from the previous day.

Korea has completed vaccinating about 39.3 percent of the nation's population.

On Thursday, new Covid-19 cases totaled 1,776, including 1,717 local infections, increasing the cumulative caseload to 205,702, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA). Newly infected Covid-19 patients have remained above 1,700 for the second day.

Three more people died of the coronavirus, pushing the death toll to 2,109 with a fatality rate of 1.03 percent.

As the current pandemic wave has yet to be brought under control, health authorities are expected to extend the current distancing rules, which have been in place since mid-July for another two weeks. They will decide whether to extend antivirus curbs Friday.

The greater Seoul area, home to around half of the population, enforces the most stringent distancing measures of Level 4, while most other areas are under Level 3.

The most rigid distancing restrictions ban gatherings of more than two people after 6 p.m., place a 10 p.m. curfew on restaurants and cafes, and suspend operations of nightclubs and other entertainment venues.

Under Level 3, cafes and restaurants can accept customers until 10 p.m., and only takeout and delivery services are available after that time. Private gatherings of five or more people are banned.