South Korea will seek to secure enough COVID-19 vaccines from overseas to administer to 30 million people, or around 60 percent of the country's population, in the first of a two-phase vaccine plan.

Under the plan discussed at a Cabinet meeting on Tuesday, the government will first seek to obtain vaccines for ten million people from the COVAX Facility, set up by the World Health Organization(WHO) and global vaccine alliance Gavi.

Additional vaccines for 20 million people will be acquired through arrangements with private developers.

The government submitted papers to join the COVAX Facility on August 31 and will send a legally binding letter of confirmation by Friday, before making an upfront payment of 172-point-three billion won by October 9.

Vaccines will be determined based on safety, effectiveness, price and when they can be made available for use.

Under Phase Two of the plan, the government will seek to secure more vaccines, possibly from local pharmaceutical companies, with the aim to vaccinate everyone in the country.