South Korea to ramp up vaccine efforts, detects first case of UK coronavirus variant

South Korean officials said Monday that the first case of a more infectious coronavirus strain has been detected in the country and that they will ramp up efforts to inoculate the public.

The variant, believed to have originated in southeastern England, has been detected in three people who entered the country from London last Tuesday, according to Reuters, citing the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency.

The public health agency said the nation saw a three-day low of 808 new cases as of midnight Sunday, down from 1,241 Friday. However, they warned the decrease may be the result of reduced testing over Christmas and the weekend.

South Korea’s planned vaccination schedule calls for residents to begin receiving shots in the first quarter of 2021, significantly behind the U.S. and the U.K., where the first vaccines are already being distributed.

Amid backlash over the timeline, the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety announced Sunday that it will shorten the approval period for the vaccine, which currently averaged 180 days, to as few as 40, according to the news service. The government will also shorten a months-long distribution and sales approval process to closer to 20 days.

“There are concerns that our country hasn’t secured enough vaccines or that the vaccinations will be delayed. This is not true,” President Moon Jae-in, whose approval ratings have plunged amid the wait for vaccines, said in a meeting with advisers, according to a statement. “We are making efforts to advance the timeline for adopting vaccines.”

Moon said Monday that health care workers and the elderly are set to begin receiving the shots in February. The country’s longer-term plans involve securing enough of the vaccine to inoculate more than 85 percent of residents.

The country has reported a total of 57,680 cases of the virus and 819 deaths.