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| A woman receives the first dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine at a vaccination center in Seoul, April 1. AP |
South Korea on Thursday began administering COVID-19 vaccines to members of the general public aged 75 or above and other virus-vulnerable groups as the country accelerates its nationwide inoculation campaign.
Some 3.5 million people aged 75 and older began getting vaccinated with U.S. pharmaceutical company Pfizer Inc. products, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said.
It marks the first time that non-medical personnel and those who are not at long-term care facilities have been included in the country's nationwide vaccination campaign that began in late February.
The elderly population will first be given 500,000 Pfizer vaccines that are provided under a direct contract for 13 million people between the company and the Seoul government, the KDCA said.
The first batch of Pfizer products for 250,000 people arrived last week and another for 250,000 people arrived Wednesday.
Vaccines provided by Pfizer are given at 46 state-run vaccination facilities, as the products require ultra-cold chain storage, the authorities said.
The authorities said they plan to build a total of 254 such facilities at general hospitals, gymnasiums and other kinds of government sites across the country by July.
Since Feb. 26, when the country initiated its vaccination program, a total of 876,573 people have been given COVID-19 vaccine shots, about 1.69 percent of the country's 52 million population, the KDCA said.
The country reported 551 more COVID-19 cases, rising to more than 500 for the second day, the KDCA said. The total virus caseload increased to 103,639. (Yonhap)
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