Additional doses of the domestically produced AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine were shipped from the SK Bioscience factory in Andong, North Gyeongsang Province on Tuesday. 

Health authorities said the batch is enough to vaccinate 439-thousand-500 people and is part of a direct contract with AstraZeneca.

After storage at a warehouse in Icheon, Gyeonggi Province, the doses will be distributed to medical institutions nationwide. 

More than one-point-seven million additional doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine are expected to be supplied to the country by the end of June.

At present, the vaccines are administered to the elderly aged 74 and younger. From next Monday, average citizens between 60 and 64 as well as teachers and staff at preschools and elementary schools are set to begin vaccination.