SERIOUS SHORTAGE OF HOSPITAL BEDS

[Anchor Lead]

Critical COVID-19 cases have been nearing the 1,000 mark for three straight days, leading to a serious shortage of hospital beds. Meanwhile, health authorities have reported cases of the omicron variant in those who received booster shots.

[Pkg]

Korea reported 997 serious COVID-19 cases on Monday. The rapid spread of the virus and a high number of critical cases are resulting in near full occupancy of hospital beds. The government has secured 38 additional ICU beds but there's still not enough. The occupancy rate of ICU beds in Seoul is near 90%, which essentially means no beds are available. Meanwhile, individuals who received a third vaccine dose were confirmed to have been infected with the omicron variant. Authorities reported that four out of 178 people infected with the omicron variant had received boosters. Two of those four individuals had the Janssen vaccine for their initial inoculation. The UK’s Health and Safety Executive’s findings show that three doses of AstraZeneca or Pfizer's vaccine had 71% and 76% protection against omicron respectively. Despite these breakthrough infections, experts still strongly recommend getting third doses because the chances of becoming seriously ill or dying are dramatically lowered.

[Soundbite] Song Man-ki(Deputy Director General, International Vaccine Institute) : "Third dose again boosts vaccine efficacy against the delta variant to more than 95% but it goes down to 75% for the Omicron variant. Still, third dose can prevent serious symptoms and death effectively, allowing people to overcome the virus only with mild symptoms."

So far, 22.5% of the population and 63.2% of the 60 and older age group have received three doses. Meanwhile, nearly 1.4 million doses of Moderna's vaccine were shipped out of Samsung Biologics’ Songdo plant on Monday. That brings the total of available vaccines to 105 million doses, enough to meet the demand for booster shots.