Army Officers Vaccinated Against COVID-19 Also Test Positive for Coronavirus

As the spread of COVID-19 intensifies, the government has strengthened quarantine measures in the Seoul metropolitan area. On the 5th, commuters at Sindorim Station in Seoul hurried along wearing masks. Initially, from July, people who had received at least one vaccine dose were allowed to remove their masks outdoors in parks and walking trails. However, due to the government's reinforced quarantine measures, even vaccinated individuals in the metropolitan area must wear masks, and outdoor drinking after 10 p.m. is prohibited. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

[Asia Economy Yang Nak-gyu, Military Specialist Reporter]The military has confirmed for the first time a case of COVID-19 infection after receiving two doses of the Pfizer vaccine.

According to the Ministry of National Defense on the 6th, one Army officer in Paju, Gyeonggi Province, was classified as a contact of a confirmed case within the unit, underwent diagnostic testing, and tested positive.

This officer received the first dose of the Pfizer vaccine on the 11th of last month and completed the second dose on the 2nd of this month. Although there was a Navy officer who was recently confirmed positive after receiving the first and second doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine at the end of April and early last month, this is the first case of testing positive for COVID-19 after completing vaccination with the Pfizer vaccine.

However, since the second dose was administered only four days ago, it is understood that this is not a so-called "breakthrough infection" case, which occurs after two weeks have passed following the recommended full vaccination schedule.

On the same day, in addition to the Army officer, one Army soldier in Paju, Gyeonggi Province, two Army soldiers in Dongducheon, and one Air Force officer in Daejeon, Chungnam, also tested positive, bringing the total number of confirmed cases in the military to 1,034. Among them, 23 are receiving treatment, and the rest have recovered.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of National Defense announced that as of the previous day, 185,619 soldiers under the age of 30 have completed the second dose of the Pfizer vaccine. This accounts for 46.9% of those who received the first dose (about 395,000 people).

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.