3rd Dose Reaches Maximum for Two Consecutive Days... "Prevention Effect Declines Rapidly Over Time"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Seo So-jeong] The number of people receiving the third dose of the COVID-19 vaccine reached 787,801 yesterday, marking the highest daily figure for two consecutive days. As the number of new COVID-19 cases hit an all-time high and breakthrough infections increased, the previously slow third-dose vaccination rate is now accelerating.

According to the COVID-19 Vaccination Response Promotion Team on the 15th, 787,801 people received their third dose yesterday, bringing the total number of third-dose recipients to 7,937,480. Although the third-dose vaccination rate relative to the population remains at 15.5%, 42.1% of those aged 60 and above have completed their third dose. Additionally, 1.61 million people participated in advance reservations for the third dose yesterday, showing a gradual upward trend.

With active recommendations for adolescent vaccinations, the vaccination rate among teenagers is also rising. The Promotion Team stated, "The first-dose vaccination rate is steadily increasing, with 74.4% for ages 16-17 and 44.5% for ages 12-15," adding, "Currently, the first-dose reservation rate is 78.1% for ages 16-17 and 56.0% for ages 12-15."

Park Young-jun, head of the Epidemiological Investigation Team at the Central Disease Control Headquarters, explained during a regular briefing, "Among severe COVID-19 patients, those aged 60 and above account for 83%, and 89% of deaths involve individuals with underlying conditions," adding, "The elderly are vulnerable to infection, and as community transmission has prolonged, exposure opportunities have increased. Furthermore, immunity has waned over time since vaccination, which is the cause."

Park emphasized, "The proportion of deaths among the elderly aged 60 and above is increasing," and added, "Currently, individuals aged 60 and above with underlying conditions and those whose vaccination was a considerable time ago must receive additional doses." He continued, "Although unvaccinated individuals make up only 19% of the total population and 8% of adults aged 18 and over, half of the deaths occur among the unvaccinated group, so we urge everyone to actively get vaccinated."

Hong Jeong-ik, head of the Vaccination Management Team at the Promotion Team, also stated, "Whether it is viral vector vaccines like AstraZeneca and Janssen or messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccines like Pfizer and Moderna, the preventive effect decreases rapidly over time after vaccination," adding, "The third dose is absolutely necessary."

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