The Republic of Korea's health authorities said Tuesday that they plan to provide three different types of COVID-19 vaccination certificates as eased measures will be applied to vaccinated people starting later this week, Yonhap reported. The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said those who have received at least one shot of the vaccines against the novel coronavirus will be provided with a mobile certificate and other forms, which can be used to prove their inoculation history. Starting Thursday, people administered with their first vaccine doses will be allowed to travel outdoors without masks, as part of the government's new COVID-19 guidelines emphasizing incentives for vaccinated people. Certificates in a paper format showing information such as the name of the vaccine and date of the inoculation can be issued at community service centers across the country starting Thursday, the KDCA said. Also, COVID-19 digital certificates can be generated through a mobile application available on Google's Android and Apple's iOS devices, it said. The authorities said they will also provide a paper-based certificate that can directly be attached to an identification card, mostly for the older population who are unfamiliar with mobile apps. As of Tuesday, a total of 15.3 million people, or 29.8 percent of the country's 51.3 million population, have received their first shots of COVID-19 vaccines since the country started its vaccination program on Feb. 26.
