Uiryeong-gun Achieves 50% Winter Additional Vaccination Rate, Third Nationwide

Last Month, the Prime Minister Mentioned 'Uiryeong-gun Best Practices'

Uiryeong-gun, Gyeongnam Province, has achieved the government target of 50% for the additional winter COVID-19 vaccination rate among high-risk groups.

The county recorded a rate of 50.1%, ranking third fastest nationwide after Sunchang-gun (52.1%) and Haenam-gun (50.8%). In December last year, it also surpassed the government target of 60% vaccination rate for infection-vulnerable facilities, ranking seventh nationwide.

Uiryeong-type Visiting Town and Township Vaccination [Photo by Uiryeong-gun]

To minimize damage to the most vulnerable elderly population during the 7th wave of COVID-19, the government established a ‘focused vaccination period’ centered on infection-vulnerable facilities housing the elderly, aiming for a 50% vaccination rate among the elderly and 60% in infection-vulnerable facilities to increase vaccination coverage.

The county has been continuously encouraging vaccinations by conducting five rounds of visiting vaccination tours across 13 eup and myeon (towns and townships).

On the 17th of last month, Prime Minister Han Duck-soo mentioned Uiryeong-gun’s ‘visiting eup and myeon vaccination’ during a Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters video conference, emphasizing that other local governments should use it as a model.

Lee Do-wan, Director of Welfare and Health Bureau of Gyeongnam Province, also urged other cities and counties in Gyeongnam to benchmark the county’s case and actively engage in visiting vaccination activities.

The county rented buses for the 13 eup and myeon to provide transportation convenience for the elderly and operated a dedicated COVID-19 vaccine public officer system for each village to improve vaccination rates through one-on-one close contact. The vaccination rate for the first and second doses exceeded the national average by more than 10%.

A health center official said, “Although the COVID-19 pandemic is entering a phase of subsiding, reinfection rates are rising, so neither complacency nor carelessness is allowed,” adding, “We will continue to stay vigilant and take care of the health of our residents until we completely emerge from the COVID tunnel.”