South Korea has expanded its vaccination campaign and eased restrictions on inoculated people, in a bid to encourage immunisation, against the backdrop of the country's military personnel signing up for Johnson and Johnson's (J&J's) Covid-19 vaccine, reports Reuters.

South Korea received one million doses of the vaccine this week after the US almost doubled a pledge made during President Moon Jae-in's first summit with US President Joe Biden last month.

Authorities have designated the J&J vaccine for military-related personnel, including reserve forces and the civil defence corps, as well as people planning overseas business trips or diplomatic missions.

Around 3.7 million people are eligible to receive the single-dose vaccine and some 646,000 have signed up so far.