Service members stand in line to be vaccinated against COVID-19 in the city of Goyang, north of Seoul, on June 24, 2021. (Yonhap)
SEOUL, June 26 (Korea Bizwire) — More than 95 percent of service members aged under 30 have received their first doses of Pfizer’s coronavirus vaccine since the vaccination campaign for younger soldiers began earlier this month, the defense ministry said Saturday.
A total of 395,677 troops in their 20s, or 95.4 percent of the age group, had been vaccinated as of Friday, according to the ministry.
The defense ministry began its inoculation campaign in March and has been implementing it in phases. Soldiers aged 30 and older were given AstraZeneca’s vaccine, and they will receive the second shots starting around July.
On Saturday, the ministry reported a new COVID-19 case, as an Army officer in the southwestern city of Namwon tested positive after one of his family members was infected recently.
The latest case brought the total number of infections reported among the military population to 1,013.
Nationwide, South Korea reported 668 new cases, including 611 local infections, raising the accumulated caseload to 154,457, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said.
(Yonhap)
