SOUTH Korea’s health authorities said they will start vaccinating children aged 5 to 11 against Covid-19 later this month to curb the spread of Omicron.

The age group will be administered with Pfizer-BioNTech’s two-dose shot from March 31. The shot has a dose of only 10 microgrammes, said the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA), as reported by Xinhua.

KDCA said the spread of the highly contagious new variant has caused the number of Covid-19 cases, hospitalisation and deaths among children to swell.

The move to vaccinate the age group (3.07 million individuals) is aimed at preventing hospitalisation and deaths, it added, saying that it strongly recommends the shot for high-risk minors with underlying diseases.

Teenagers aged 12-17 who have completed their vaccination at least three months earlier will be allowed to receive a booster from today.

South Korea has reopened schools earlier this month, fuelling concerns about new clusters among students.

The country reported 309,790 new Covid-19 cases in the past 24 hours. Its daily infections hovered above 300,000 for the third consecutive day. – Bernama, March 14, 2022.