As COVID-19 vaccinations gather speed, South Korea may achieve the government goal of administering the first shots to at least 13 million people in the first half earlier than expected.

In a Friday briefing, Jeong Eun-kyeong, head of the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency(KDCA), said the government raised the target goal from 12 to 13 million last month.

She said that given the vaccination and reservation rates so far, hitting that milestone is believed to be possible by the end of this month.

Jeong said if the one million doses of the Janssen vaccine provided by the U.S. are also included, over 25 percent of the population will be able to get their first jabs in the first half, for a quicker return to normality.

As of Friday, over seven million people, or about 13-point-eight percent of the population, have received at least their first vaccine.

Noting that Saturday marks the 100th day since vaccinations began in late February, Jeong called for continued public cooperation to overcome the pandemic.