People on June 17 wait for the results of potential side effects or certificates of vaccine confirmation at the COVID-19 vaccination center in Seoul's Yeongdeungpo-gu District. (Yonhap News)

By Lee Kyoung Mi and Lee Jihae

Vaccination against COVID-19 from next month through September will be available for people ages 18-59. 

The government's goal is to give 22 million people their first shot of a vaccine during the third quarter and ensure that 36 million, or 70% of the population, receive their first shots to achieve herd immunity by November.

The government task force on vaccination against COVID-19 on June 17 announced its plans for immunizations for the third quarter.

The plan is to primarily vaccinate staff in education and childcare so that students can attend school in person during this year's second semester and that people in their 50s can reduce their risk of serious illness and death. Customized vaccines will also target those in blind spots who cannot easily make reservations or visits for vaccines, including people with mobility issues, those who mostly stay home such as the elderly or the severely disabled, those with developmental disabilities, or homeless people.

Priority for vaccination in the third quarter will go to 170,000 people who could not get their shots due to lack of vaccines or problems with health despite being eligible this month.

Those in the 60-74 age range who do not get vaccinated this month can do so early next month. Essential workers under 30 and health care personnel will be vaccinated from July 5-17.

Third-year students in high school set to take the college entrance exam this year and high school staff will also start to get vaccinated. They will receive the Pfizer vaccine at vaccination centers nationwide from July 19. Non-students who will take the test can make online reservations to get their shots in August. Staff at daycare centers, preschools, elementary and middle schools, and care facilities can get either the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine next month.

Those in their 50s can make online reservations from July 26 to get their shots. Vaccines for those 18-49 will begin in August on a first-come, first-serve basis via online reservations.

The third quarter will also see a mix-and-match method for vaccinations, in which different vaccines are administered in the first and second shots in contrast to the rule of using the same vaccine type for both inoculations. A government committee on vaccination, however, concluded that based on foreign case studies, research results and vaccine supply, the mix-and-match method can work if the period between the first and second doses is followed. Countries such as Canada, Sweden, Germany and France permit this type of vaccination.

Care center personnel, doctors and medical students, pharmacy staff and essential workers who got the AstraZeneca vaccine for their first doses from mid-April will receive the Pfizer one for their second.

Korea Disease Prevention and Control Agency Commissioner Jeong Eun-Kyeong, who is concurrently head of the task force, told a regular briefing in the afternoon, "Thanks to citizens who actively participated in vaccines and medical staff who safely administered them, we were able to reach our goal for the first half of the year ahead of time."

As of midnight on June 18, the number of people receiving the first dose of a vaccine was 14,233,045, or 27.7% of the population.

km137426@korea.kr