South Korea decided Friday to shorten the vaccination interval for COVID-19 booster shots to three months amid surging cases.
South Korean Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum told a government anti-virus meeting that the vaccination interval will be shortened to let all adults aged 18 or higher receive the third dose of COVID-19 vaccines three months after the primary vaccination.
In November, the interval was already cut from six months to five months for those aged 18-59, and to four months for those aged 60 or higher and people with underlying disease.
It came as the daily number of confirmed COVID-19 cases topped 7,000 for the past three days.
The country's full vaccination rate reached 81.0 percent of the total population, while 10.3 percent of the population received booster shots.
The government also planned to issue an administrative order to additionally secure about 1,900 hospital beds for the critically ill patients.
In the latest tally, the number of infected people who were in a serious condition reached 852.
Fifty-three more deaths were confirmed, raising the death toll to 4,130. The total fatality rate came to 0.82 percent.
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