Health authorities have decided to purchase 20 million additional doses of the Moderna vaccine, as the country strives to speed up the administration of booster shots amid soaring COVID-19 infections.

This follows 60 million doses of the Pfizer vaccine that the nation secured earlier this year.

The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency(KDCA) made the announcement Thursday, explaining that the country has now procured 80 million doses of mRNA-based vaccines needed for next year's shots.

The government purchased 40 million doses from Moderna for this year's vaccinations, half of which have arrived in the country. The remaining half will be delivered by the second quarter of next year.

The Moderna vaccine is being used for the first, second and third rounds of vaccinations in the country.