South Korea starts vaccination for 55 to 59 age group as COVID-19 caseloads remain high

A health worker gets a dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine at a COVID-19 vaccination centre in Seoul, South Korea, Mar 10, 2021. SEOUL: South Korea kicked off COVID-19 vaccinations for people aged 55 to 59 on Monday to speed up the pace of its inoculation campaign, as the country battles the fourth wave of infections.

The roll-out of COVID-19 vaccinations for people in their upper 50s had sputtered to a week-long halt this month after a record high number of new cases sparked a rush for shots, exhausting available supplies and crashing an official reservation website.About 6.

The authorities had faced criticism for being short on supplies and for a last minute change that temporarily extended the dosing interval for Pfizer-BioNTech shots to four weeks instead of three to match that of Moderna's. South Korea has prioritised immunising the elderly, the vulnerable and frontline healthcare workers. It has inoculated 33 per cent of its 52 million population with at least one dose, while 13 per cent have been fully inoculated.The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency reported 1,318 new coronavirus cases for Sunday. Total infections in the country stand at 190,166, with 2,077 deaths.

Mass testing and tracing have helped the country suffer lower COVID-19 death rates than other developed countries so far without a full lockdown, but the new wave of infections prompted the government on Sunday to tighten social distancing rules across most of the country this week to head off transmission in the summer holidays.

Singapore Latest News, Singapore Headlines

Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.

South Korea steps up COVID-19 curbs ahead of peak holiday seasonSouth Korea said on Sunday it will tighten social distancing rules across most of the country this week, warning that its worst-ever COVID-19 wave might spread further in the summer holiday season. 'There has been an increase in movements nationwide, especially around vacation spots.' South Korea managed to largely avoid major COVID-19 outbreaks with an extensive testing and tracing campaign for the first year of the pandemic.
Source: YahooSG - 🏆 3. / 71 Read more »

Olympics-Archery-South Korea wins gold in mixed teamSouth Korea won the gold medal in the archery mixed team event on Saturday, bringing the country's its first gold at the Tokyo Olympics.
Source: ChannelNewsAsia - 🏆 6. / 66 Read more »

Olympics-Taekwondo-Heartache for South Korea as Olympics jinx follows LeeTop-ranked taekwondo champion Lee Dae-hoon lost in the first match of his final Olympics on Sunday, dashing South Korea's best hope for a gold ...
Source: ChannelNewsAsia - 🏆 6. / 66 Read more »

Taekwondo: Heartache for South Korea as Olympics jinx follows LeeTop-ranked taekwondo champion Lee Dae-hoon lost in the first match of his final Olympics on Sunday, dashing South Korea's best hope for a gold ...
Source: ChannelNewsAsia - 🏆 6. / 66 Read more »

Olympics-Archery-South Korea women win ninth straight team goldSouth Korea won a ninth consecutive gold medal in the women's team archery event at the Tokyo Olympics on Sunday.
Source: ChannelNewsAsia - 🏆 6. / 66 Read more »

Olympics-Archery-South Korean coaches around every corner in TokyoWherever there is a bow and arrow at the Tokyo Olympics, a South Korean won't be far away.
Source: ChannelNewsAsia - 🏆 6. / 66 Read more »