The government said it will draft COVID-19 vaccination plans for children aged five to eleven next month.

The move was disclosed as part of the government’s measures to curb the spread of the highly transmissible variant, omicron. The announcement was made by the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters on Friday.

Im Suk-yeong, a senior official of the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency(KDCA), said that multiple countries are vaccinating children aged five to eleven, and that the government is continuously looking into related overseas situations.

The U.S., Switzerland, Brazil, Ireland and Malaysia are either vaccinating children aged five to eleven or have approved the emergency use of vaccines for the age group.

The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety in Korea is currently reviewing vaccination for those aged five to eleven, which numbers around three million in the nation.