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South Korea will be giving out the fourth dose of Covid-19 vaccines by end-February 2022, the government said on Feb. 14, Reuters reported.

High-risk groups getting vaxxed again

High-risk groups will be the first to get the second booster shot, Health Minister Kwon Deok-cheol told a Covid-19 response meeting.

"We're planning to provide fourth shots to those who live in nursing homes and care facilities and others with declined immunisation, in light of a recent increase of infections among people aged 60 or older," he said.

Recipients of the fourth shot will include some 500,000 people aged 18 or older who live or work at care centres, and 1.3 million others who immunocompromised, KDCA director Jeong Eun-kyeong told a separate briefing.

People outside these groups would not yet be advised to receive additional vaccination.

Omicron surge

The Omicron surge has pushed daily cases to records, but deaths and serious infections are limited.

Sunday's 54,619 new cases took the tally of infections to 1,405,246, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said.

The country's death toll rose by 21 to 7,102.

South Korea's population is mostly vaccinated.

At least 44.22 million people, or 86.2 percent of the population, are considered fully vaccinated.

The first booster shots have been received by more than 57 per cent of the population of 52 million.

Testing strained

Free polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests have been restricted to those in high-risk groups as the Omicron variant of coronavirus became dominant in January 2022.

Others must first take rapid antigen tests using kits sold at stores, or offered free by public health centres, but has strained supply.

On Feb. 13, the authorities imposed a three-week rationing period on test kits for home use.

The government on Feb. 15 said it will supply millions of additional home test kits to ease shortages.

Presidential election to go on

The National Assembly passed a bill on Feb. 14 to allow Covid-19 patients to cast their ballot in the March 9 presidential election.

The amendment to the Public Official Election Act came as officials explore how to prevent potential Covid-related disruptions while ensuring everyone's right to vote.

The existing rules effectively ban people diagnosed with a contagious disease after the March 4 to 5 early voting period due to mandatory isolation policy.

Top photo via Unsplash

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