The government has decided to shorten the minimum interval between the second and third dose of the COVID-19 vaccine for adults to three months. 

Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum announced the decision on Friday in a government meeting on the coronavirus response at Incheon City Hall.

Kim said that in order to accelerate vaccination, the government has decided to reduce the interval between primary vaccination and a third shot to three months for all adults aged 18 and older. 

Currently, booster shots for adults aged 18 to 59 are given at least five months after the completion of vaccination, while senior citizens aged 60 and older are allowed to receive them at four months. 

Reservations can be made from Monday for those eligible. 

The prime minister also said the government will issue an administrative order on Friday for general hospitals in non-capital areas to secure 17-hundred hospital beds for COVID-19 patients.