A report from Statistics Korea showed that 5,030 people died from Covid-19 in 2021, which is five times more than the Covid-19 related deaths in 2020.

The Covid-19 death rate per 100,000 people was 9.8, an increase of 7.9 from the previous year's 1.9.

By age, the Covid-19 death rate per 100,000 people was highest among those in their 80s with 124, followed by 70s (36.7), 60s (11.5), and 50s (3.1). Deaths over 60 years old accounted for 92.4 percent of the total fatalities last year.

The report also showed men had a higher mortality rate from Covid-19 than women. The Covid-19 death rate per 100,000 people for men was 10.4, which was higher than the mortality rate for women (9.2).

By month, more than half of the deaths occurred in November and December of last year, with the two months accounting for 2,985 deaths.

Seoul had the highest Covid-19 death rate per 100,000 people at 19.3, followed by Gyeonggi Province (11.5) and South Chungcheong Province (8.4). Compared to 2020, the Covid-19 death rate per 100,000 people increased in all cities except Daegu.

On Tuesday, Korea added 39,425 new Covid-19 infections, including 308 cases from abroad, bringing the total caseload to 24,673,663, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA).

Tuesday's figure was some 21.5 percent lower than a week ago, and the lowest figure for any Tuesday since July 12.

The nation also reported 26 more Covid-19 deaths, raising the death toll to 28,272. The fatality rate stood at 0.11 percent. The number of critically ill patients came to 401, down 26 from the previous day, the KDCA said.

The government has also started accepting advance reservations for booster vaccinations using an improved bivalent vaccine that can also respond to the Omicron variant from Tuesday.

The improved vaccine is a vaccine developed to respond to both the initial Corona 19 virus and Omicron variant (BA.1). The government plans to use Moderna's bivalent vaccine for the booster shots.

Those aged 60 and over, with weakened immunity, and patients in long-term care hospitals and facilities are given priority in receiving the vaccine.

According to the KDCA, about 44.67 million among 52 million Koreans have been fully vaccinated. In addition, about 33.59 million people had received their first booster shots, and 7.42 million had their second booster shots.