South Korea made an important announcement on Wedneday statting that those who were administered their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine were no longer be required to wear masks outdoors starting in July. It is to be noted that South Korea launched their public vaccine campaign in February.

The country plans to achieve herd immunity by November, and the announcement was part of the incentive of the public vaccination program.

The incentive program announced at a daily interagency coronavirus response meeting also included a plan to lift the gathering ban for direct family members who have had their first vaccine dose, Yonhap reported.

South Korea plans to achieve herd immunity by November.

Those who received thier first vaccine can also go outdoors without masks and will be exempt from capacity limits at religious facilities. Moreover, those who have received their first vaccine will also be exempt from the gathering ban of eight among direct family members and have access to community and welfare centers for seniors with fewer restrictions.

Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum said health authorities plan to fully revise the government’s antivirus measures in late September, when more than 70 percent of people are projected to have received their first jabs.

The overall global Covid-19 caseload has topped 167.6 million, while the deaths have surged to more than 3.48 million, according to the Johns Hopkins University.

In its latest update on Wednesday morning, the University’s Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) revealed that the current global caseload and death toll stood at 167,628,424 and 3,481,199, respectively.

The US continues to be the worst-hit country with the world’s highest number of cases and deaths at 33,165,808 and 590,922, respectively, according to the CSSE.

In terms of infections, India follows in the second place with 26,948,874 cases.

The other worst countries with over 3 million cases are Brazil (16,194,209), France (5,670,486), Turkey (5,203,385), Russia (4,960,174), the UK (4,483,177), Italy (4,197,892), Germany (3,662,568), Spain (3,652,879), Argentina (3,586,736) and Colombia (3,270,614), the CSSE figures showed.

(With IANS inputs)