Adolescent Vaccination Rate Surpasses 50%... Accelerating Third Dose Administration

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Chun-hee] The COVID-19 vaccination rate among adolescents aged 12 to 17 has surpassed 50%.

The COVID-19 Vaccination Response Promotion Team announced on the 14th that approximately 1,486,000 adolescents aged 12 to 17 have received their first dose, resulting in a first-dose vaccination rate of 53.7%. The second-dose vaccination rate stands at 38.3% (1,061,000 people).

By age group, those aged 16 to 17 have a first-dose vaccination rate of 74.1% and a completion rate of 67.3%, while those aged 12 to 15 have a first-dose rate of 43.7% and a second-dose rate of 24.2%.

The Promotion Team also reported that advance reservations by adolescents continue to increase steadily. On the previous day alone, 41,914 people completed their reservations. This figure is more than three times higher than the 12,379 reservations made on the 25th of last month. Daily advance reservations have shown a continuous upward trend, with 14,098 on the 1st and 28,943 on the 9th.

The Promotion Team explained that vaccination rates are expected to rise further through advance reservations and school-based vaccination visits by the end of this month.

The third-dose vaccination is also gaining momentum. According to the Promotion Team, 759,587 people received their third dose in a single day yesterday, marking the highest daily vaccination record since the third-dose campaign began on October 13.

To date, a total of 7.12 million people have completed their third dose. This corresponds to 13.9% of the total population and 37.5% of the elderly aged 60 and above. Notably, 63.5% of those aged 75 and older have completed their third dose.

With the interval for the third dose shortened to three months for those aged 18 and above, advance reservations that began yesterday saw a strong response, with 1.79 million people completing their reservations on the first day.

The Promotion Team earnestly urged, "For the protection of individuals and those around them, we sincerely ask for active participation in the third dose vaccination following the shortened interval and the first and second doses for adolescents aged 12 to 17." They added, "Especially, elderly people aged 60 and above who have passed three months since their second dose are strongly encouraged to complete their third dose by the end of December. Adolescents are also requested to participate in vaccination as soon as possible, as they may face various and serious impacts such as infringement of learning rights due to isolation and school attendance suspension."

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