The head of the nation's advisory committee on infectious diseases again called on the public to get their booster shots specifically adapted to the BA.4 and BA.5 variants of the omicron strain of COVID-19.

At a press briefing, Jung Ki-suck expressed concern over a low vaccination rate and a doubling of virus-related deaths in the past month with the start of a seventh wave of COVID-19 as winter sets in.

Jung stressed that COVID-19 is a more serious infectious disease with a much higher transmission rate than the seasonal flu.

The chief adviser expressed great shock that the vaccination rate against the seasonal flu among seniors aged 65 or older stands at 77 percent, while the rate for COVID-19 boosters among those aged 60 or older stands at only 12-point-seven percent.

Estimating the death toll from COVID-19 to climb to around 27-thousand by the end of the year compared to 210 from the flu between 2010 and 2019, Jung called for an increase in the vaccination rate among high-risk groups to over 60 percent.