Half of Soldiers Under 30 Have Completed Vaccination

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Yang Nak-gyu, Military Specialist Reporter]More than half of military personnel under the age of 30 have completed the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.

According to the Ministry of National Defense on the 16th, 27,738 people received the first dose of the Pfizer vaccine the previous day, bringing the total number of vaccinated personnel to 223,614. This accounts for 53.9% of the approximately 414,000 military personnel under the age of 30.

If vaccination for those under 30 is completed by next month, a total of about 554,000 personnel across the entire military?including military hospital workers, personnel aged 30 and over (including those deployed overseas), and KATUSA within the US Forces Korea?will have received the vaccine, accounting for 87%, or 483,000 people. This exceeds the military’s COVID-19 vaccination rate target of 80%.

Among them, approximately 117,000 personnel aged 30 and over who have only received the first dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine are scheduled to receive their second dose from July 19 to August 6. This is expected to reduce the possibility of cluster infections within the military and help form herd immunity ahead of the second half of the US-ROK joint military exercises in August.

The Ministry of National Defense explained that they produced and distributed advance notices and videos to clarify that COVID-19 vaccination is carried out with the individual's voluntary consent and emphasized the necessity of vaccination to protect individuals from COVID-19 infection and to establish herd immunity within the military.