COVID-19 Vaccine Vaccination Centers to Gradually Cease Operations Starting Late This Month

On the 15th, the vaccination center set up at Bukahyeon Culture and Sports Center in Seodaemun-gu, Seoul, is bustling with citizens seeking to receive the COVID-19 vaccine. Photo by Moon Honam munonam@

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Chun-hee] The nationwide COVID-19 vaccination centers, which were operated for vaccine administration, will be sequentially closed from the end of this month until the end of this year.

The COVID-19 Vaccination Response Promotion Team announced on the 18th that the operation of 282 vaccination centers nationwide will be gradually terminated starting from the 31st. On the 31st, 204 centers (72.3%) will cease operations, followed by 51 centers (18.1%) on the 30th of next month, and finally, 27 centers (9.6%) will close on December 31.

Since February, nationwide vaccination centers were established and operated to maintain the cold chain required for the messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) Pfizer vaccine, which requires ultra-low temperature frozen distribution. As of the 15th, a total of 15 million doses have been administered at these centers. However, from the third quarter, the storage conditions for the Pfizer vaccine were relaxed to refrigerated storage at 2?8°C for one month, enabling mRNA vaccine administration at 16,000 entrusted medical institutions nationwide.

Accordingly, the Promotion Team stated, “Since vaccination for the population aged 18 and over is nearing completion and the nationwide vaccination completion rate exceeds 70%, after the end of this month, the number of new vaccination candidates will be limited, and vaccination at entrusted medical institutions will be sufficiently possible, so the operation of vaccination centers will be gradually reduced.”

In particular, vaccination centers scheduled to close at the end of this month will no longer receive vaccine allocations from next month. Therefore, vaccination candidates with second-dose appointments next month will be guided to change their vaccination sites to public health centers or entrusted medical institutions to receive their second dose. Health insurance subscribers can receive their second dose at public health centers and entrusted medical institutions, while non-subscribers can only be vaccinated at public health centers.

The Promotion Team said, “After the closure of vaccination centers at the end of this month, public health centers and entrusted medical institutions will take over their roles,” adding, “We will ensure that there is no inconvenience for citizens who wish to receive COVID-19 vaccinations.”