SEOUL, Dec 8 (NNN-YONHAP) – South Korea planned to secure COVID-19 vaccines for 44 million people, or 88 percent of the country’s total population, the health ministry said today.
The Ministry said, it pre-ordered 20 million doses of vaccines each from Pfizer, Moderna and AstraZeneca, which require two shots, as well as, four million doses of vaccines from Johnson & Johnson’s Janssen, that require one shot for the country’s 34 million people.
The pre-order contract was formally signed with AstraZeneca, while other contracts are planned to be inked in the near future, the ministry said.
The remaining vaccines for 10 million people will be secured through the World Health Organisation (WHO)’s global vaccine project, called COVAX Facility.
The government set aside a combined 1.3 trillion won (1.2 billion U.S. dollars) of the budget for the vaccine.
The pre-ordered vaccines will be shipped to the country from Feb next year, in a gradual way, and if necessary, the country will secure additional vaccines according to the development of other vaccine candidates, according to the ministry.
The ministry said, it has not decided on the vaccination schedule given that the vaccine development had yet to be completed, while concerns remained over their safety and efficacy.
The government was considering the first inoculation of virus-vulnerable people, such as the elderly, nursing home residents and the chronically ill, as well as, healthcare workers.– NNN-YONHAP
