Protect High-Risk Groups... Gimhae-si Offers 'Completely Free' COVID-19 Vaccinations

Gimhae City in Gyeongnam Province will fully implement free COVID-19 vaccinations from the 19th of this month until March next year.

According to the city on the 4th, those strongly recommended for vaccination, including individuals aged 65 and older, immunocompromised persons, and members of infection-vulnerable facilities, can receive the vaccine injection from the first day of free vaccination.

Other general citizens aged 12 and older who wish to receive the vaccine can make a prior reservation or get vaccinated on the same day at designated medical institutions starting November 1st.

Regardless of whether they have received the 1st and 2nd basic vaccinations or not, if they receive at least one dose during this vaccination period, no additional vaccination is required.

Vaccinations are available at designated medical institutions nationwide, and nearby medical institutions can be found on the Vaccination Helper website.

When visiting a vaccination site, it is essential to bring an ID card. For children, identification can be verified with a resident registration certificate, National Health Insurance card, and for pregnant women, a maternity handbook.

This COVID-19 vaccine is the ‘XBB.1.5 monovalent vaccine,’ which is highly effective against the ‘XBB.1.5 variant virus’ circulating this year and is known to have a lower frequency of adverse reactions compared to previous vaccines.

The city stated that as the COVID-19 virus has been reclassified as a level 4 infectious disease and the crisis level has been downgraded to caution, the importance of vaccination to protect high-risk groups, which is the government’s top priority, has increased.

Although the fatality rate of COVID-19 has dropped to the level of seasonal influenza, it is about 40 times higher for those aged 65 and older compared to those under 64, and the proportion of reinfected cases among recent confirmed patients is high.

They also explained that due to the emergence of new variants and the decline in immunity over time after vaccination and infection, there tends to be outbreaks every six months.

Heo Mok, director of the Gimhae City Public Health Center, said, “COVID-19 was the third leading cause of death in 2022,” and added, “Vaccination is very important to prevent severe illness and death among high-risk groups, so we hope high-risk groups actively participate in COVID-19 vaccination.”

He continued, “We will maintain a close cooperative system with designated medical institutions to provide a clean and safe vaccination environment.”

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