Foreign Minister Chung Eui-yong attended a virtual meeting on Wednesday regarding the omicron variant chaired by U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken. 

Foreign ministers from around ten countries and representatives from the African Union(AU) and European Union attended the gathering which was organized to share information on the fast-spreading variant and discuss response measures. 

According to the foreign ministry, Chung told participants that the government is administering boosters to the elderly and encouraging youth under 18 to get vaccinated against COVID-19. 

He also explained that the government has tightened social distancing and is working to expand its health care capacity. 

The foreign minister also stressed the need to guarantee equal global access to COVID-19 vaccines. To this end, he said the government plans to contribute 100 million dollars to the COVAX Advance Market Commitment next year and 15 million dollars to Africa with cooperation from the AU.

Blinken announced 580 million dollars in new funds for seven multilateral organizations to fight the pandemic, including the World Health Organization and UNICEF.