Medical workers wait to receive the first dose of the Pfizer BioNTech vaccine Covid-19 at the National Medical Center vaccination center in Seoul, South Korea February 27, 2021. Song Kyung-Seok/Pool via REUTERS
SEOUL—South Korea said 18,489 people received their first doses of AstraZeneca PLC’s vaccine by midnight on Friday as it launched an ambitious COVID-19 inoculation campaign, and will begin using Pfizer/BioNTech vaccines on Saturday. The first to receive the shots are healthcare workers, staffers at assisted care facilities and other high-risk people, with a goal of vaccinating 32 million to 36 million people – some 60% to 70% of the population – by September.The government hopes to reach herd immunity, defined as at least a 70% vaccine take-up, by November, as health authorities remain on alert for signs of sporadic infections.
The first AstraZeneca vaccines are to be administered to 289,000 people, while about 55,000 healthcare workers in coronavirus treatment facilities will receive first batch of the vaccine developed by Pfizer Inc and BioNTech SE supplied through the COVAX global vaccine-sharing program.
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