First Dose Vaccination Rate Surpasses 60%... Authorities Say "Vaccine Effectiveness 98.4% for Ages 16-18" (Update)

Positive Sign as 70% of Population Achieves First Dose Vaccination Goal Before Chuseok

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Ji-hee] The number of people who have received the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine in South Korea has surpassed 60% of the total population. With the first-dose vaccination rate exceeding 90% among high-risk groups aged 60s and 70s, and vaccinations for young adults aged 18 to 49 proceeding as planned, a green light has been given for achieving the goal of 70% of the population, or 36 million people, receiving the first dose before Chuseok.

Lee Sang-won, head of the Epidemiological Investigation and Analysis Team at the Central Disease Control Headquarters, stated at the regular COVID-19 briefing on the 7th, "As of 10:30 a.m. today, the cumulative number of first-dose vaccinations has exceeded 60% of the entire population. This corresponds to 69.9% of adults aged 18 and over." He added, "By age group, the 60s have the highest first-dose vaccination rate at 93.3%, and the 70s have the highest completion rate at 88.4%."

Lee said, "Since the second-dose vaccinations for the 50s age group began yesterday, the completion rate for high-risk groups aged 50 and above is expected to increase rapidly." He also noted, "The cumulative number of first-dose vaccinations has been accelerating, starting with 3 million in April, 10 million in June, 20 million in August, and 30 million in September."

According to the Central Disease Control Headquarters, an analysis of the COVID-19 vaccine's infection prevention effectiveness was conducted for the age groups 16-18 and 19-24 from the 1st to the 29th of last month, confirming high preventive effectiveness. Specifically, the infection prevention effectiveness was 98.4% for ages 16-18 and 92.4% for ages 19-24.

Lee explained, "Although the number of fully vaccinated individuals in the student age group is still limited, it is significant that high preventive effectiveness was confirmed even in the initial analysis."

Meanwhile, cases of 'breakthrough infections,' where individuals contract COVID-19 after completing vaccination, are also increasing. As of the 30th of last month, it is estimated that 3,855 fully vaccinated individuals in South Korea have been infected with COVID-19, with 727 additional cases reported in one week. This accounts for 0.04% of the total 9,751,718 fully vaccinated individuals who have passed the two-week antibody formation period after vaccination.

Among the breakthrough infection cases, variant virus analysis was conducted on 1,261 individuals, of whom 1,042 (82.6%) were infected with major variant viruses. The Delta variant originating from India accounted for the largest proportion, with 1,010 cases. By age group, people in their 30s showed the highest breakthrough infection rate at 0.092% among all age groups.

By vaccine type, the breakthrough infection rate was highest among Janssen vaccine recipients at 0.131%, followed by AstraZeneca (AZ) at 0.042%, Pfizer at 0.023%, and Moderna at 0.008%.

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