Resumed Vaccination Reservations for Ages 55-59, 71.3% Completed... "All Bypass Reservations Are Valid" (Comprehensive)

Medical staff are receiving the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine at Chungbuk National University Hospital in Seowon-gu, Cheongju-si, Chungbuk.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Chun-hee] As the pre-registration for the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine for those aged 55 to 59 resumed at 8 p.m. on the 14th, 71.3% of the total eligible recipients have completed their reservations. However, prior to the official reopening, the detailed reservation page link was leaked, leading to some pre-registrations through abnormal channels.

Baek Gyeong-taek, Head of the Central Disease Control Headquarters Situation Management Team, stated at the COVID-19 regular briefing on the 15th, "For the 55-59 age group whose reservations resumed from 8 p.m. on the 14th, about 700,000 people completed their reservations from the start until noon (12 p.m.) on the 15th," adding, "Including those who had already made reservations, a total of 2,533,080 people have completed their reservations." The resulting reservation rate is 71.3%.

Additionally, among the 60-74 age group, 78,091 unvaccinated individuals (reservation rate 45.2%), and 808,338 education and childcare workers (daycare centers, kindergartens, elementary and secondary school teachers) and care personnel (93.4%) were included, bringing the overall reservation rate for the July vaccination target group to 74.5%.

However, when reservations for the 55-59 age group resumed at 8 p.m. the previous day, delays occurred again in accessing the COVID-19 vaccination pre-registration system. When the initial pre-registration for the 55-59 age group began on the 12th, reservations were accepted for only 1.85 million people within 15 hours and 30 minutes before closing. Even after the resumption on the 14th, normal access was only possible around 10 p.m., about two hours after reopening.

Regarding this, Baek said, "The task force will continuously improve the pre-registration system to ensure no inconvenience in reservations and will distribute reservation targets by date as much as possible to facilitate smooth progress." He also urged the target groups to make reservations by avoiding peak times, saying, "Immediately after opening, access delays may occur due to concentrated users at specific times, so accessing outside those times will allow smoother reservations."

On the 14th at 8 PM, the pre-registration for the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine for individuals aged 55 to 59 resumed, but once again, a surge in users caused connection delays. [Image source=COVID-19 Vaccination Pre-registration System]

Meanwhile, controversy arose as posts claiming that reservations were completed before the pre-registration for the 55-59 age group officially resumed appeared on online communities.

On the 15th, the COVID-19 Vaccination Response Task Force responded to reporters' inquiries asking, "Please check whether it was possible to access the pre-registration system and make reservations through a separate link before the resumption time," stating, "It is presumed that reservations were processed through abnormal routes," and added, "We will investigate whether the link is a vulnerability and consider blocking measures for future reservations."

On the previous day, some internet communities posted messages from around 7:30 p.m., about 30 minutes before the reservation reopening, saying "Vaccine reservations are now possible" and "I have already reserved the vaccine for my parents." The link attached to these posts reportedly led directly to the reservation information input page of the COVID-19 vaccination pre-registration system.

This page is normally accessible only after navigating through several pages from the main page via the official access route. Until 8 p.m. on the 14th, accessing the main page only displayed a message stating "Reservations will start shortly," and direct access to this page was not possible.

This situation appears to have occurred because the task force blocked access to the main page until 8 p.m. but left direct access via links to detailed pages open.

Regarding this, Jeong Woo-jin, head of the task force’s system management team, explained, "We conducted about 1 hour and 30 minutes of system maintenance and checks just before the reservation," and added, "If you had the URL information in advance and accessed it, you could confirm that the reservation system was operational." This means that if someone had obtained the link to the detailed reservation procedure pages during previous reservations, they could access it and actually make a reservation.

However, Jeong stated, "We believe that the advantage gained by prioritizing reservation is not significant," and "We consider such reservations valid even if made through abnormal means," indicating that no separate measures will be taken against those who made reservations in this way. He further explained, "Rather than disadvantaging those who reserved on time, these individuals can still make normal pre-registrations for vaccination," adding, "Since the available reservation scope, targets, and specific quantities are not limited and the reservation period is quite broad, we believe there is sufficient choice and authority regarding reservations."

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