GOV’T OPEN VACCINATION RESERVATIONS

[Anchor Lead]

The government will open reservations for COVID-19 vaccinations to elderly people aged between 70 and 74 ans those with chronic severe respiratory conditions on Thursday. Amid the nation's slow vaccination progress due to a temporary vaccine shortage, 436,000 doses of the Pfizer vaccine have arrived in South Korea.

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Elderly people aged 70 to 74 and those with chronic respiratory conditions can now make reservations for COVID-19 vaccinations. The reservation process began at 10 a.m. Thursday morning. You can make reservations online, or at the 1339 call center and local community service centers. Vaccination reservations will be made available next Monday for those aged between 65 and 69. Those in the age group of 60 to 64 can make reservations from next Thursday. The daily tally of people who received the vaccine hovered around 90,000 for two consecutive days. It is a third of the number recorded on weekdays last week with far fewer people having received the first shot. But, the number of those getting the second jab to complete the two-part regimen has remained similar. It is because the government has adjusted the pace of vaccination with vaccine supplies running short temporarily. Amid this situation, 436,000 doses of the Pfizer vaccine arrived in South Korea. According to the government's plans, some 4.86 million more doses will be imported by next month. Starting next Friday, 8.9 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine will be introduced in order. The government expects that the new arrivals will help ease the vaccine shortage and vaccinations will re-gain speed.

[Soundbite] Yoon Tae-ho(Central Disaster Management HQs) : "I ask the people to follow anti-virus rules and receive the vaccine when it is their turn."

Those that complete the two-dose regimen of vaccination in Korea and observe the two-week waiting period for antibodies to form will be exempt from mandatory self-quarantine. This would include a case where a fully-vaccinated person comes into contact with a COVID-19 patient. As long as they test negative in a PCR test, they can forgo self-quarantine. As of Wednesday, some 60,000 fully vaccinated people were eligible for this self-quarantine exemption. The government reiterated that the risk of developing thrombosis following COVID-19 vaccination is very low and most cases are treatable.

[Soundbite] Yoon Tae-ho(Central Disaster Management HQs) : "The risk of developing thrombosis after receiving the COVID-19 vaccine is far lower than that posed by an oral contraceptive pill. It is just similar to the risk caused by the economy class syndrome following a long-distance flight."

Meanwhile, the government will send volunteers to local vaccination centers, that are predicted to suffer from a manpower shortage with vaccination reservations increasing.