NEW SYSTEM TO RESERVE VACCINES

[Anchor Lead]

Vaccinations for elderly people aged 74 and under who have made vaccine reservations are to begin on Thursday. To minimize the waste of remaining doses due to vaccination no-shows, the public will be allowed to make reservations on Naver and Kakao and get vaccinated on the same day.

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Elderly people aged between 65 and 74 will be able to get their first AZ dose starting Thursday at some 13,000 vaccination centers and local public health care centers. Health authorities estimate that more than one million people will be able to get vaccinated daily.

[Soundbite] Kim Ki-nam(COVID-19 Vaccination Taskforce) : "Each vaccination center with one doctor can vaccinate up to 100 people. This means at least one million people a day can receive vaccinations."

When someone fails to show up for reserved vaccinations, extra doses remain. To minimize the waste of remaining doses and to vaccinate more people, the public will be allowed to make online reservations for no-shows from 1 p.m. Thursday. The number of remaining doses can be viewed on Naver and Kakao, with vaccinations available on the same day. Reservations can be placed on the Naver website, Naver Map, Kakao Talk's vaccine tab, and Kakao Map. Users can also receive alerts on remaining doses from up to five medical institutions. As only the remaining doses of the Astrazeneca vaccine are available, those who are younger than 30 are not eligible. Those who have already placed vaccination reservations are also excluded.

[Soundbite] Lee Sang-won(Central Disease Control HQs) : "By disclosing vaccination information transparently, we hope those who want to receive remaining doses will be able to place reservations quickly and get vaccinated on the same day."

The vaccination reservation rate among people aged between 60 and 74 has been found to be 58.2 percent. The government is urging the public to get their shots when it's their turn, as those who refuse to get vaccinated on time will have to wait until everyone gets their first dose in the second half of the year.