Face masks will no longer be required outdoors from July for those inoculated with at least one COVID-19 shot, South Korean authorities said on Wednesday.

The move is a bid to encourage older residents to get vaccinated as South Korea aims to immunize at least 70 percent of its 52 million people by September, from just 7.7 percent now.

People given at least one dose also will be allowed to gather in larger numbers starting June, Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum told a coronavirus response meeting on Wednesday.

He said all quarantine measures would be adjusted in October once more than 70% of residents had received their first dose.

South Korea will begin vaccinating the general public aged between 65 and 74 from Thursday in over 12,000 clinics.

South Korea reported 707 new confirmed cases of the coronavirus on Tuesday, bringing the total tally to 137,682 infections, with 1,940 deaths.