As Third Dose Increases, Cases Decrease... Concern for Children

New Cases in the 3,000s
Over 80% Booster Vaccination Rate for 60+
Severe Cases Decrease... Zero Patients Waiting for Beds

On the 5th, the preliminary gathering day for the 2022 academic year elementary school students, prospective elementary students and their parents are waiting to receive guidance at Jangwol Elementary School in Seongbuk-gu, Seoul. Photo by Jin-Hyung Kang aymsdream@

[Asia Economy Reporters Seo So-jeong and Lee Chun-hee] The number of new COVID-19 cases in South Korea fell to the 3,000 range on the 7th, marking a clear decline in the fourth wave that had persisted for six months. This is attributed to the third (booster) vaccination rate among those aged 60 and over approaching 80% and the full effect of strengthened social distancing measures. Health authorities plan to ease social distancing again once the number of new cases decreases and the scale of critically ill patients shrinks, securing sufficient capacity in the healthcare system.

◆ Critically ill patients remain in the 800s for two consecutive days = According to the Central Disease Control Headquarters, as of midnight on this day, the number of new confirmed cases was 3,717, down 408 from the previous day. The number of new cases, which approached 8,000 in mid-last month, has decreased to the 3,000 range. The number of critically ill patients also recorded 839 for two consecutive days in the 800s, providing relief to the medical response system. As of midnight, there are zero patients waiting for hospital beds for more than one day in both the metropolitan and non-metropolitan areas. The number of critically ill patients has been steadily decreasing since reaching a record high of 1,151 on the 29th of last month. Son Young-rae, head of the Social Strategy Division at the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters, said, "The proportion of patients aged 60 and over was once over 35%, but as of yesterday, it dropped to 15.6% (613 confirmed cases)," adding, "This is closely linked to the rapid increase in the third vaccination rate among those aged 60 and above."

The third vaccination rate for COVID-19 among the elderly aged 60 and over is approaching 80%. During the focused vaccination period for the elderly last month, the number of third doses administered to the elderly increased by about 9 million, and the vaccination rate soared from 14.7% (1.93 million people) on the 1st to 79.5% (10.93 million people) as of the previous day. Among confirmed cases in the first week of December, those aged 60 and over accounted for 35.8% (11,009 people), but this significantly decreased to 21.0% (6,834 people) in the last week of December. Over the past five weeks, cases related to nursing hospitals and facilities among those aged 60 and over have also dropped from 1,156 to 139, indicating the full effect of elderly vaccination. Son said, "The expanded vaccination pass measures and partial restrictions on private gatherings that began on the 6th of last month have been effective, and combined with strengthened social distancing measures, the decline is entering a full-fledged phase."

However, authorities assessed that compared to the start of the phased return to normal life on November 1, the number of new confirmed and critically ill patients remains high. Son said, "At the time of lifting social distancing, the number of confirmed cases was around 2,000, critically ill patients around 400, and ICU occupancy rate about 50%," adding, "Compared to that period, the number of critically ill and confirmed patients is still high, so we hope for a faster reduction in critically ill patients and see this as an opportunity to ease social distancing measures again."

◆ Youth vaccination rate is key... Court decisions a variable = Experts predict that the vaccination rate among adolescents will be crucial to further reducing the scale of the outbreak. As of the previous day, the first-dose vaccination rate among adolescents aged 12 to 17 was 60.9%, still a low level. Considering that the first-dose vaccination rate for those aged 18 and over is 96.2%, this is significantly lower. In particular, the first-dose vaccination rate for those born in 2009 is 53.6%, just barely over half.

Recently, courts have put a brake on mandatory vaccination proof and negative test confirmation (vaccine pass) for academies and similar institutions, raising concerns about a slowdown in adolescent vaccination rates. The weekly increase rate of about 10 percentage points for the first-dose vaccination rate among 13-18-year-olds (previously 12-17-year-olds) slowed to only 3.2 percentage points compared to the previous week as of the previous day. Especially after the court's decision to suspend the vaccine pass for academies on the 5th and 6th, the increase was only 0.3 percentage points each day. Professor Jung Jae-hoon of Gachon University College of Medicine's Department of Preventive Medicine emphasized, "The vaccine pass can be a convenient means to increase vaccination rates, but measures that reassure vaccine recipients and their parents must precede it."

The government will begin full discussions on reforming the quarantine system as the outbreak scale shifts to a decline. The Ministry of Health and Welfare will hold a public forum this afternoon on the Omicron variant outbreak situation and medical response direction. Professor Jung pointed out, "When the first phase of returning to normal life was implemented in November, easing of quarantine measures all at once caused a large-scale outbreak," adding, "Since the period of outbreak decline overlaps with the dominance of Omicron, social distancing should be eased gradually, while preparing for a large-scale outbreak in January and February."

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