The planned expansion of the government's COVID-19 vaccine pass system to include 12- to 18-year-olds will likely be delayed by one month to next March, government officials said Thursday.

The possible delay may be formally announced by the government on Friday, together with its decision on whether to extend the current strict social distancing measures for two more weeks, the officials said.

Starting on Dec. 6, South Korea expanded its vaccine pass program, requiring vaccine passes or a negative PCR test conducted with the previous 48 hours for entering 16 types of multiuse facilities, but minors aged under 18 were excluded from the measure. It was instead announced that the so-called youth vaccine pass will be enforced for teens aged 12 to 18 from Feb. 1.

But amid a controversy over possible violation of students' rights to education and freedom to choose vaccination, a one-month postponement of the youth vaccine pass program is under consideration, according to officials at the Ministry of Education.

"The final government stance on the youth vaccine pass system is expected to be announced before the end of this year," a ministry official said.

Critics have said that the government is effectively coercing students to get vaccinations and that parents who distrust the safety of vaccines cannot consent. They also said the schedule for the youth vaccine pass is too tight for the February enforcement.

The vaccine pass takes effect 14 days after the completion of the COVID-19 vaccination and a three-week interval is required for the first and second shots.

The primary vaccination rate for 12 to 17-year-olds stood at 73 percent as of midnight Wednesday. The second dose completion rate for 16 to 17-year-olds were 71.8 percent but the same rate dives to 38 percent for 12 to 15-year-olds.

The daily average number of confirmed COVID-19 cases among kindergarten, elementary, middle and high school students was 731.3 during the past week, down 226.8 from 958.1 in the preceding week. (Yonhap)