S. Korea registers 199,749 breakthrough COVID-19 infections

SEOUL, Jan. 17 (Xinhua) — South Korea registered a total of 199,749 breakthrough COVID-19 infections, which refer to the vaccinated people who were infected with the virus, the health authorities said Monday.

The number of those who tested positive for COVID-19 after receiving two vaccine doses came in at 199,749 as of Jan. 9, up from 187,611 a week earlier, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA).

It accounted for 0.475 percent of the fully vaccinated people that reached 42,051,045.

It is known that people can be protected from the virus two weeks after the full vaccination.

Among the total breakthrough cases, the number of critically ill patients was 2,527. The death toll stood at 1,348.

Read more: S.Korea reports 4,167 more COVID-19 cases

The number of those who were infected with COVID-19 after receiving booster shots was 7,927 on Jan. 9, taking up 0.053 percent of the total 15,102,415 who got the booster jabs.

The number of critically ill patients who received booster shots was 49, and the death toll came to 26.

In the latest tally, the country reported 3,859 more cases of COVID-19 for the past 24 hours, lifting the total number of infections to 696,032. It fell below 4,000 due to fewer virus tests over the weekend.