COVID-19 VACCINATIONS CONTINUE

[Anchor Lead]

Over 680-thousand people in South Korea have received their first COVID-19 vaccine dose. With the number growing, vaccinations also began Tuesday for inpatients and employees aged 65 and older at nursing hospitals and elderly care facilities. On Wednesday morning, batches of the Pfizer vaccine, for 250-thousand people, also arrived at Incheon Airport.

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A nursing hospital in Seongnam, Gyeonggido Province. Vaccinations first begin with caretakers aged 65 and above. Recipients first go through ID checks and must also fill out a health questionnaire.

[Soundbite] "You didn’t indicate ‘yes’ or ‘no’ to the question 'have you been vaccinated for COVID-19 before?'"

Following these steps, people wait to be examined by medical staff.

[Soundbite] "Have you had a rash or any allergic or hypersensitive reactions? (No.)"

If a person is deemed fit to receive a vaccine, then he or she waits their turn for inoculation. This is the AstraZeneca vaccine.

[Soundbite] Gang Ok-dan(Caretaker, Bobath Memorial Hospital) : "We need to get the jabs, be free of masks and return to normal life. That's what matters for people here with precious little time left."

South Korea had withheld administering the AstraZeneca vaccine to seniors 65 and above over efficacy concerns due to lack of data. However the government decided to go ahead with the shots after reviewing data from Europe which showed 70 to 80 percent prevention rates in hospitalization. There has also been controversy over blood clots, but a panel of experts in South Korea concluded there is no connection, adding that the benefits outweigh the risks. The goal is to have some 154-thousand residents and employees at 16-hundred nursing hospitals inoculated in the next two weeks, and another 133-thousand patients and workers at one thousand care facilities within 6 weeks. The timetable has been divided as such to prevent any vacuum in providing nursing and care services in the event of possible adverse reactions after vaccination.

[Soundbite] Lee Sang-won(Central Disease Control HQs) : "Vaccine safety proven through a scientific process is the view of the majority of global experts."

Meanwhile, doses of the Pfizer vaccine for 250-thousand people arrived at Incheon Airport on Wednesday morning. The batch is part of a total volume enough for 13 million people the Korean government has procured from the firm. This vaccine will be delivered to local vaccination centers at 22 locations nationwide and will be given to senior citizens 75 and older starting April 1st.