President of the Republic of Korea Moon Jae-in called Saturday for speeding up booster shots for the elderly as the country struggles to tackle the fast spread of coronavirus infections, including cases of the new omicron variant, according to Yonhap News Agency.

The country added 6,977 new COVID-19 infections, raising the total caseload to 510,538, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA).

Daily infections soared to a record high of 7,174 cases on Wednesday and remained above 7,000 for the following two days.

The number of critically ill patients came to 856 on Saturday, up four from a day ago, while the death toll hit a daily high of 80, pushing the total up to 4,210.

“Please take special care in speeding up (booster shot inoculations) for seniors in regional communities,” Moon said in a phone conversation with Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum, according to Kim’s office.

Moon also told Kim to better explain to the public the need to vaccinate young people based on scientific data, amid a growing public backlash against the government’s plan to expand the vaccine pass scheme to teeneagers next year.

The KDCA said 83.6 percent of the country’s 52 million population have at least received one shot of the vaccine, while 81.1 percent have received two shots and 11.8 percent have gotten their booster shots.

Starting February, the government plans to require not only adults but also children aged 12 to 18 to present COVID-19 vaccination or negative test certificates at multiuse facilities, including public study rooms and cram schools.

Source: Azerbaijan State News Agency