4TH DOSES FOR ELDERLIES BEGIN

[Anchor Lead]

Elderlies 60 and older started getting fourth doses of COVID-19 vaccines today. The number of new cases has steadily declined now to under 150,000. So why are health authorities still recommending additional vaccines for the elderly? Here’s why.

[Pkg]

The following people are eligible for the fourth dose of COVID-19 vaccine. Those born in 1962 or earlier... and who received their third doses more than 120 days ago. Same-day administration of leftover vaccines is possible, starting Thursday, but main vaccination starts on April 25th through reservations.

[Soundbite] Jung Eun-kyeong(KDCA Director) : "We decided to administer 4th doses to prevent critical cases and deaths among the 60s and respond to such uncertainties as the persistence of the Omicron surge and emergence of a new variant."

In order to stress the importance of fourth vaccine doses, authorities said that although about 90% of the elderly population 60 or older have been vaccinated with third doses, the vaccine effectiveness has diminished, resulting in more than 20% of the group getting infected with COVID-19 in the first week of April. Authorities strongly recommended people in their 80s receive their fourth shots, because their fatality rate was 17 and four times greater than those in their 60s and 70s, respectively. People eligible for fourth doses had differing reactions.

[Soundbite] Kim Sun-deok(73 Years Old) : "I should get vaccinated, because I could get immunity from a dangerous disease."

[Soundbite] Ji Jae-chun(66 Years Old) : "I will never get the shot. After I was vaccinated, my muscles got weak and I aged rapidly. My doctor said my underlying conditions got worse."

Revised distancing guidelines to be announced Friday are likely to remove restrictions for private gatherings and business hours. As for removing the outdoor mask-wearing mandate, Presidential Transition Committee chair Ahn Cheol-soo said that decision should not be made too hastily.

[Soundbite] Ahn Cheol-soo(Chair, Transition Committee on COVID-19 Countermeasures) : "We are looking into allowing people to be mask-free outdoors. But I must point out this measure may be too premature."

Disease control authorities admitted that it would be difficult to attain the level of herd immunity high enough to end the pandemic, but they are working on the measures to return to everyday lives even under those conditions.