S. Korea vaccinates 58 percent of population with first dose of COVID-19 vaccine

Despite major supply setbacks, Korea is on track to hit its 70% first-dose target before the Chuseok holiday

People leave the COVID-19 vaccination center at Bugahyeon Culture and Sports Center on Friday after receiving their vaccine. (Yonhap News)

The number of people in South Korea who have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine surpassed 30 million on Sunday.

The milestone came 192 days after inoculations began in South Korea on Feb. 26.

The COVID-19 vaccination response team announced on Sunday that “As of 11:15 am [Sunday], the cumulative number of people having received [at least] a first vaccination was calculated at 30,000,100.”

The number represents 58.4% of the total population. If narrowed to include only those aged 18 and older — the age group eligible to receive a vaccine — this means that 68% of people have received at least a first dose.

As of Sunday, a total of 17,747,159 people, or 34.6% of the population, had been fully vaccinated.

The rate of first-dose vaccinations in South Korea is around 15 percentage points lower than in other advanced economies.

According to Our World in Data, a statistics website created by researchers from the University of Oxford, the percentages of people who had received at least a first vaccine dose as of Friday were 74.27% for Canada, 70.62% for the UK, 65% for Germany and 61.48% for the US. The global average was 40.2%.

As of Friday, South Korea and Japan had similar percentages of first dose administration at 58.24% and 58.28%, respectively, although Japan had a higher rate of full vaccination at 47.28% to South Korea’s 34.08%.

The reason for the low vaccination rate in South Korea has to do with the slow vaccine supply to the country. Of the 193 total million doses of vaccines that it was contracted to receive in 2021, only 18.62 million doses — less than 10% — arrived during the first six months

As a result, the number of people having received at least a first dose did not surpass 10 million until June 10, 105 days after the first inoculations began in South Korea on Feb. 26. The 20 million mark was passed on Aug. 3 — 159 days in — while the 30 million mark was exceeded on Sunday.

The South Korean government’s target is to have administered first doses to 36 million people, or 70% of the total population, before the Chuseok holiday begins on Sept. 19.

“Vaccinations for the 18–49 age group have been proceeding smoothly since beginning on Aug. 26, and with some amount of leftover vaccines also being administered each day, we will be able to achieve our target without difficulty,” the vaccine team said.

By Choi Ha-yan, staff reporter

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