Prime Minister Han "expansion of the 4th vaccination… to those in their 50s and 18 years of age or older with underlying diseases"

The government is expanding the target of the fourth dose of COVID-19 to those in their 50s and those over 18 with underlying disease.

Prime Minister Han Deok-soo held a meeting of the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters today (13th) at the government complex in Seoul and announced that he would expand the fourth vaccination, which is currently being given to people over the age of 60 and those with weakened immunity.

Prime Minister Han said that the BA.5 mutation is rapidly resurfacing, and there is a forecast that up to 200,000 confirmed cases a day in mid-August and late September.

At the same time, he said, "We will expand vaccination to nursing hospitals, facilities for the disabled, and facilities for the homeless."

Regarding the hospital bed utilization rate for critically ill patients, Prime Minister Han said, "There is enough room at the current level of 10%, but even if there are up to 200,000 people, we will prepare so that there will be no problems with inpatient treatment."

He then emphasized, "We will secure 10,000 one-stop medical institutions where confirmed patients receiving at-home care receive tests, treatment, and prescriptions at once at a nearby hospital, from the current 6,338 to the end of this month."

7 days of mandatory quarantine will be maintained.

In addition, at this stage, we have decided not to enforce the mandatory social distancing measures.

Prime Minister Han added, "However, if there is a significant change in the epidemic situation, we will review the introduction of selective step-by-step distancing."