<Anchor> In



Korea, the third vaccination is currently taking place, and it is expected that the fourth vaccination will start as early as next month. Authorities plan to give priority to those who are less effective than the vaccine.



Reporter Jeong Da-eun will explain who the target is and when it will be possible.



<Reporter> The



government has selected immunocompromised persons as a priority target for the fourth vaccination.



These are patients who have leukemia, lymphoma, multiple myeloma or cancer, or are receiving immunosuppressive treatment such as organ transplantation.



This is because there is not enough neutralizing antibody produced after vaccination, so the preventive effect is low.



[Sohn Young-rae / Head of Social Strategy Team, Central Accident Remediation Headquarters: There may be cases where immunity is not secured even after the second or third vaccination, so we are discussing with experts whether to receive additional vaccinations for these people. … .]



The total number of immunocompromised patients in Korea is about 1.81 million.



Of these, about 1.2 million people are eligible for the fourth vaccination after completing the third vaccination.



An official from the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) said in a phone call with SBS, "They see up to the 3rd vaccination as the basic vaccination for those who want to weaken immunity, and the 4th vaccination will be 3 months after the 3rd vaccination."



As most of the immunocompromised people have received the 3rd dose since November of last year, the 4th dose may start as early as next month.



The quarantine authorities said that the fourth vaccination of the general public would be decided after reviewing overseas cases.



It is the position that further analysis is needed to determine how effective the existing vaccines are for omicron mutations.



[Park Hyang/Central Accident Resolving Headquarters Head of Prevention and Prevention: While reviewing trends in the 4th vaccination rate in other countries, Korea is also reviewing cases in other countries.

It seems that the implementation has not been decided.] The number



of vaccines that will be introduced into Korea this year is 160 million, which is sufficient for the third and fourth vaccinations.



(Video editing: Yonghwa Jung)