Achieved 70% First Dose Vaccination Rate Today... "Efforts to Reach 80% Through Expanded Incentives"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Chun-hee] As the government's goal of achieving a 70% first-dose COVID-19 vaccination rate before Chuseok approaches, authorities have expressed their determination to further increase the vaccination rate by expanding incentives for vaccine recipients.

On the morning of the 17th, Lee Ki-il, the 1st Controller of the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters (Director of Health and Medical Policy at the Ministry of Health and Welfare), said at the regular COVID-19 Central Disaster Management Headquarters briefing, "It is expected that more than 70% of the entire population will receive the first dose by today."

According to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency's COVID-19 Vaccination Response Promotion Team, 428,223 people received their first COVID-19 vaccine dose the previous day, bringing the cumulative total to 35,414,516. This corresponds to about 69.0% of South Korea's total population, leaving only approximately 530,000 people to reach the government's target of 70% before Chuseok. Considering that 652,833 people received their first dose last Friday (the 10th), achieving the 70% goal today is highly likely.

Lee explained that surpassing a 70% first-dose vaccination rate is significant because the first dose alone provides considerable efficacy and serves as a prerequisite indicator for the second dose. He stated, "The first dose alone offers 60% effectiveness, and after completing the second dose, the prevention effect against severe illness increases to 85%." He added, "The prevention effect against death has been confirmed to be 78% with just the first dose and 97% with the second dose." Furthermore, he emphasized, "The first dose is essentially a precursor to the second dose. Once the first dose is administered, the second dose will be given within six weeks, meaning the full vaccination rate will soon reach 70% within six weeks."

On the 16th, as 70% of the population is about to achieve the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, foreigners visiting the vaccination center set up at Dongdaemun-gu Gymnasium in Seoul are registering. Photo by Jinhyung Kang aymsdream@

The authorities plan to continue efforts to raise the vaccination rate further. Son Young-rae, Head of the Social Strategy Division at the Central Accident Response Headquarters, said, "Given the current reservation status, there is ample room for the vaccination rate to exceed 70% and continue to rise. We plan to actively expand incentives for vaccination and aim to reach 80%." Through this, it is expected that as the risk level of COVID-19 decreases, a gradual transition to a harmonized quarantine system aligned with daily life, which is currently being prepared, can begin.

With the increase in vaccination rates, authorities anticipate that the ongoing fourth wave of infections, which has not yet subsided, will enter a calming phase from late this month. Lee said, "Currently, the number of new COVID-19 cases is not increasing significantly, but in the metropolitan area, it is approaching nearly 80%. Many experts speculate that as the vaccination rate rises, the number of patients will start to decline from late September."

Lee also stressed the importance of getting through Chuseok safely to achieve these effects. He emphasized, "We must get through Chuseok well to move toward a phased recovery of daily life." To this end, since most population movement is from the metropolitan area to non-metropolitan areas, the public is asked to refrain from unnecessary travel as much as possible and to limit visits to small-scale, short trips for returning home or going back after receiving vaccination or diagnostic testing.