Central Disaster & Safety Headquarters, “COVID-19 Vaccine Booster Shots Available for People Ages 18 and Older”

A temporary COVID-19 screening clinic set up in front of Incheon City Hall. Courtesy of the Incheon Metropolitan Government

The government will make the COVID-19 vaccine booster available to all adults ages eighteen and older. Currently, they are being administered to people vulnerable to health issues.

According to the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasure Headquarters on October 26, the government decided to provide the vaccine booster shots to more people in time for winter. They will administer COVID-19 vaccine booster shots to adults ages eighteen and older. Until now, the booster shots were available only to people with weak immune systems, people in facilities vulnerable to infection, such as care hospitals and facilities, and the elderly ages sixty and older.

The central headquarters will also provide more vaccine options, from the current one to three types of bivalent vaccines. This reflected the latest disease control situation in South Korea and abroad, as well as the introduction of new bivalent vaccines.

The central headquarters announced that the spread of Covid has accelerated with winter approaching. According to the disease control authorities, over 40,000 new daily cases of the virus were confirmed on October 26. The number of new daily cases exceeded 40,000 for two days in a row. The weekly reproductive number also surpassed one for the first time in nine weeks. The central headquarters announced that the ratio of patients developing severe symptoms and the fatality rate were on the rise in all age groups compared to the end of August.

Lee Sang-min (minister of the interior and safety), second assistant director of the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasure Headquarters, said, “Since the risk of developing serious symptoms is significantly reduced according to the vaccination history, we ask citizens to get vaccinated.” According to the central headquarters, the risk of developing serious symptoms dropped by 67.9% after people received a second dose of the Covid vaccine compared to those who were not vaccinated. After a third booster shot, the risk of developing severe symptoms fell 95% compared to those not vaccinated.

The disease control authorities also asked people to follow basic disease prevention guidelines, such as wearing masks indoors and regularly ventilating spaces. They claimed that the number of people who did not wear masks or did not wear them properly on subways doubled compared to early this year.