SEOUL - South Korea's health authorities said Monday that it will administer COVID-19 vaccines to children aged 5-11 later this month to tackle the spread of the Omicron variant.

The two-dose vaccine, developed by Pfizer and BioNTech, will be given to the minors from March 31, with a lower dose of 10 micrograms than 30 micrograms for those aged 12 or above, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA).

The agency said the spread of the highly-contagious Omicron variant recently raised the number of COVID-19 cases in the age group as well as hospitalizations and deaths.

The KDCA noted that the vaccination aimed to prevent hospitalizations and deaths in the age group of around 3.07 million, strongly recommending the inoculation for the high-risk minors with underlying diseases.

Teenagers aged 12-17, who completed the two-dose vaccination at least three months earlier, will be allowed from Monday to receive a third booster shot.

Schools here reopened earlier this month, fueling worry about cluster infections among students.

In the latest tally, the country reported 309,790 new COVID-19 cases for the past 24 hours, raising the total number of infections to 6,866,222. The daily caseload hovered above 300,000 for the third consecutive day.