Korea saw a sharp rise in the death toll on Thursday, despite the continued decrease in daily Covid-19 cases.
On Thursday, Korea added 81,573 new Covid-19 infections, including 300 from overseas, bringing the total caseload to 23,327,897, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said.
The country reported 112 deaths, the highest since April 29, putting the death toll at 26,876, the KDCA said. The fatality rate stood at 0.12 percent. The number of critically ill patients remained high at 555, down 14 from the previous day.
The recent surge in fatalities comes after the government decided to lift its pre-travel Covid-19 test requirement for inbound travelers from Saturday, believing the ongoing resurge has passed its peak.
Under the new regulations, travelers will no longer need to submit a polymerase chain
reaction (PCR) test within 48 hours or a negative rapid antigen test (RAT) confirmation issued within 24 hours of entry before returning home.
The eased regulation follows a recommendation from an advisory panel of private experts to the Office of the Prime Minister that the government scraps the pre-entry test requirement on Monday, replacing them with post-arrival tests.
While some experts expressed concerns about the spread of the epidemic due to the increase in imported cases, a top quarantine official brushed off such worries.
“The spread is not expected to increase much because the recent viral wave passed its peak last week and has since been on a downward trend," KDCA Commissioner Peck Kyong-ran said.
To boost vaccination in adolescents, the government approved Novavax’s vaccine for
adolescents.
The government said that it had lowered the vaccination age limit for the Novavax
vaccine from 18 years old or older to 12 years old or older.
The new approval will take effect next Monday.
The primary vaccination and booster shot rate for adolescents aged 12-17 had remained low, with only 66.2 percent of the age group receiving primary vaccination and 11 percent receiving
booster shots.
Adolescents can receive Covid-19 vaccination with Pfizer’s vaccine only now.
Health officials expect that as Novavax developed its vaccine using the traditional synthetic antigen method, adolescents will be more likely to receive the Novavax vaccine than mRNA
(messenger ribonucleic acid)-based vaccines.
In Korea, the adverse reaction reporting rate for the Novavax vaccine is 0.14 percent, which is lower than the overall adverse reaction reporting rate of 0.37 percent.
The government has also started reviewing marketing approval for Pfizer’s vaccine for infants aged six months to four years old.
The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety said that it would quickly and thoroughly review the clinical, non-clinical, quality, manufacturing, and quality control data submitted by Pfizer, and decide whether to grant permission after consulting vaccine experts on the safety and efficacy of the vaccine.
The drug regulator is also reviewing approval for using Moderna’s vaccine on children six months of age or older.
According to the KDCA, about 44.66 million among 52 million Koreans have been fully vaccinated.
In addition, about 33.55 million people had received their first booster shots, and 7.18 million had their second booster shots.