GOVT'S VACCINATION PLAN

[Anchor Lead]

More than 20 million people in Korea have received at least one COVID-19 vaccine dose. The government’s goal is to have more than 36 million people vaccinated before the Chuseok holiday by encouraging more seniors to get their shots. In the second half of the year elderly people can no longer get vaccinated at local hospitals.

[Pkg]

AstraZeneca vaccine appointments for unvaccinated people aged 60-74 are underway. The website for making appointments only lists public health centers. In the first half of the year elderly people were vaccinated at local hospitals, but now they can get immunized only at public health centers. They can receive their shots at any public health center nationwide regardless of their place of residence. Unaware of this, some seniors had trouble finding the nearest vaccination site and date of appointment.

[Soundbite] Kim(61) : "The vaccine reservation website keeps crashing, and I can’t reach them by phone. I had to visit a public health center in person to make a vaccine appointment."

Vaccinations for seniors are provided at public health centers to reduce confusion, as local hospitals are now tasked with immunizing people in their 50s. Those who are over 75 can receive the Pfizer vaccine at vaccination centers. They can make reservations at any time. Senior citizens can also make appointments via the KDCA’s call center by calling 1339 or by contacting their local governments. So far, 20 million people, or 39 percent of the country’s population, have received the first vaccine dose.

[Soundbite] Kim Ki-nam(COVID-19 Vaccination Task Force) : "We will make sure that the initial goal of providing first vaccine shots to 36 million people by late September is achieved ahead of time."

Maximizing vaccination rates among the elderly is essential in order to live with COVID-19, which keeps mutating. Various measures are needed to encourage more people to get their shots by improving access to vaccine reservations and having health workers go to eligible recipients in person.