'Breakthrough' infections in Korea hit 44
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South Korea has confirmed 44 cases of the so-called vaccine "breakthrough" COVID-19 infections, health authorities said Monday, as the country speeds up its inoculation campaign.
As of last Thursday, a total of 44 people had tested positive for the novel coronavirus even after being fully vaccinated, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA).
A "breakthrough case" refers to when a person is diagnosed with COVID-19 two weeks after being administered with the full-dose regimen.
Among the 44 cases, 26 patients had received the Pfizer vaccine, while 18 were administered with the AstraZeneca vaccine.
The KDCA said it also detected a breakthrough case from a patient who had received the Janssen vaccine.
Kim Sung-kyu, the leader of K-pop boy band INFINITE, was diagnosed with COVID-19 on June 25 after he received the single-dose Janssen vaccine on June 10.
Health authorities said the case will be included in later data as the patient was diagnosed after June 24.
As of Monday, around 15 million people, or 30 percent of the country's 51.3 million population, received their first shots of COVID-19 vaccines, while 4.6 million, or 9 percent of the population, have been fully vaccinated. (Yonhap)