SEOUL: South Korea will ramp up the Covid-19 vaccination rollout as the country has secured adequate doses amid supply shortage concerns to achieve herd immunity by November, the country's acting Prime Minister said on Monday.

In the weekend, the country administered its first available shots of coronavirus vaccines to people at long-term care facilities, launching a mass immunization campaign that health authorities hope will restore some level of normalcy by the end of the year.

Over the weekend, South Korea clinched a deal with US pharmaceutical giant Pfizer to import additional vaccines for 20 million people.

In a public message, Prime Minister Hong Nam-ki reportedly sought to allay public concerns about a shortage of vaccines and slow progress in the inoculation rollout as the country is bracing for another wave of infections.

With the latest deal, the country has secured 192 million doses in total, enough to inoculate 99 million people, an amount almost double the nation's 52 million population.

"With the latest deal with Pfizer, the country has laid the ground for advancing the timetable of herd immunity. We've also prepared for expanding vaccinations to those under age 18 and booster shots in response to virus variants," Hong said.

The country aims to vaccinate 3 million people by this month and 12 million by end-June, with a goal of attaining herd immunity by November.

South Korea has secured Covid-19 vaccines through the COVAX global vaccine project and separate deals with five pharmaceutical firms -- AstraZeneca, Pfizer, Moderna, Johnson & Johnson's Janssen and Novavax.

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