VACCINATION PLANS FOR 2ND HALF

[Anchor Lead]

Due to lack of vaccines, there have been some cancellations among the elderly who made reservations for a COVID-19 vaccine shot. These people will get priority in receiving the Pfizer vaccine from early July. Also, health authorities has officially acknowledged the first case of causality between the AstraZeneca vaccine and the death of a man suffering from blood clotting.

[Pkg]

As of this month, around 200-thousand senior citizens scheduled to get an AstraZeneca shot are yet to receive their jab due to short vaccine supply. The government has decided to administer the Pfizer vaccine to these seniors from July 5.

[Soundbite] Jeong Eun-kyeong(KDCA Director) : "Around 200,000 people who made reservations but are yet to be vaccinated will receive their first doses July 5-17."

Reservations can be made online or through call centers for 8 days starting Wednesday. Authorities will seperately notify those eligible. However elderly citizens who never made a reservation before or did but did not show up for vaccination without an explanation will be excluded. Meanwhile inoculations set for the first half of the year are gradually wrapping up as the end of June nears. So far, over 15 million people have received their first dose, accounting for nearly 30 percent of the population. The government will further ramp up first-time vaccinations in July. Authorities assure no problems to the supply volume in the coming months, adding that Pfizer and Moderna vaccines will be mainly provided in the third quarter. Some 66-thousand side effects after vaccination have also been reported so far. The country's vaccination task force has acknowledged a causal relationship between the AstraZeneca vaccine and the death of a man who developed a rare blood clot. This marks the first acknowledgement of a vaccine-linked death in Korea. Authorities advise citizens to see a doctor if they have severe headaches, nausea or suffer bruises even from a small impact within 28 days of receiving the AstraZeneca or Janssen vaccines.