The government will begin COVID-19 vaccination for children aged five to eleven in late March.

Interior and Safety Minister Jeon Hae-cheol announced the decision on Monday in his opening remarks for a government meeting on the COVID-19 response.

Jeon said vaccination for the age group will begin in late March at about 12-hundred medical institutions across the nation.

Reservations will open on March 24 and inoculations will begin on March 31.

Minister Jeon said that the safety and efficacy of the vaccine for children have been sufficiently proven in countries that conducted the vaccination, and more than 15 percent of new COVID-19 infections in South Korea are coming from children under the age of eleven.

Starting Monday, the government will also begin administering booster shots for teenagers aged 12 to 17 who are three months out from their second shots.