The government has once again urged adolescents to get vaccinated, citing growing infection risks.

Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency(KDCA) Commissioner Jeong Eun-kyeong, stressed during a COVID-19 briefing on Thursday that vaccine efficacy has been confirmed to be high among 12 to 17 year olds with a lower risk of adverse side effects than adults.

She desperately called for students to sign up for vaccinations, citing the continuing loss of education and daycare burden due to the prolonged pandemic. 

According to the KDCA, infections continue to rise among adolescents, increasing from around three-thousand-600 in September to roughly six-thousand-600 last month. 

Of cases involving kids aged 12 to 17 confirmed in the last two weeks, 99-point-eight percent were unvaccinated or partially vaccinated. Additionally, eleven adolescents have developed severe symptoms since February this year, all of whom were unvaccinated.