RESERVATIONS BEGIN FOR DOMESTIC VACCINE

[Anchor Lead]

A vaccine customized for new COVID-19 variants is to be introduced in Korea in the final quarter of 2022. Reservations are now open for the domestic vaccine. Pre-entry PCR tests will no longer be required from Saturday.

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Reservations have begun for a Korean COVID-19 vaccine developed by SK BioScience. SKYCovione will be administered to unvaccinated adults 18 and older. From Monday same-day appointments will also be available. Eligibility for Novavax will be lowered from 18 to 12. It will be used for basic vaccinations and boosters depending on age groups. A bivalent vaccine customized for the BA.4 and BA.5 variants will be introduced in the nation in Q4.

[Soundbite] Lim Eul-ki(COVID-19 Vaccination Task Force) : "It will take a while to introduce the bivalent vaccine and begin administering the shots. Rather than waiting high-risk groups should get inoculated now in line with the recommendations."

Pre-entry PCR tests will no longer be required for international arrivals starting Saturday midnight. However, they must still get tested within the arrival day. Drivers will likely be exempted from highway tolls during the Chuseok holidays. Eating will be allowed at resting areas, on buses and trains. Free PCR tests will be available at nine highway resting areas. South Korea reported some 89,000 new COVID-19 cases on Friday. The outbreak appears to be subsiding. The number of seriously ill coronavirus patients remained above 500 for ten straight days. Health authorities believe the number of deaths and serious cases will likely continue to rise for the time being due to the recent infection surge.