The supply of additional COVID-19 vaccines by AstraZeneca and Pfizer will begin this week to alleviate the vaccine shortage in South Korea. 

According to the vaccination task force on Monday, SK Bioscience, the local contract manufacturer of the AstraZeneca vaccine, will release and transport one-million-68-thousand doses to local medical institutions across the nation from its plant in Andong on Monday.

South Korea plans to distribute a total of seven-point-23 million doses of AstraZeneca vaccine in the second quarter.

The nation will also receive additional Pfizer vaccines on Wednesday.

Earlier, the government said that the nation will receive a total of one-point-75 million doses of Pfizer vaccine this month alone, in phases every Wednesday. 

The government plans to resume and speed up the first round of vaccinations for elderly citizens aged over 75 and those at geriatric facilities from this coming weekend with the Pfizer vaccine.