Government "Individual contracts with 4 overseas pharmaceutical companies... Secured 44 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine" (Update)

AstraZeneca, Pfizer, Janssen, Moderna 34 Million Doses
Sequential Introduction from Q1 Next Year... Vaccination Timing Undecided

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Cho Hyun-ui] The government will pre-purchase up to 44 million doses of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccines currently under development overseas. Through the international vaccine development and supply project 'COVAX facility,' 10 million doses will be secured, and through individual negotiations with multinational pharmaceutical companies such as AstraZeneca, Pfizer, Janssen, and Moderna, 34 million doses will be obtained.

On the 8th, Park Neung-hoo, Minister of Health and Welfare, stated at the Government Seoul Office, "Considering the possibility of vaccine failure, we have decided to pre-purchase more vaccines than the amount sufficient to vaccinate 60% of the population." Initially, the government planned to secure vaccines sufficient to vaccinate 60% of the population (about 30 million people), which is the level required to form herd immunity, but decided to increase the supply volume.

The government will first pre-purchase up to 64 million doses of vaccines through global pharmaceutical companies. By company, AstraZeneca 20 million doses, Pfizer 20 million doses, Janssen 4 million doses, and Moderna 20 million doses. Among these, the pre-purchase contract with AstraZeneca has already been signed. The other companies have also finalized purchase quantities by signing binding purchase agreements.

The pre-purchased vaccines are expected to be introduced gradually starting from the first quarter of next year. AstraZeneca, which has already signed a contract with the government, is expected to be the first multinational pharmaceutical company to supply vaccines domestically. Lim In-taek, Director of the Health Industry Policy Bureau at the Ministry of Health and Welfare, explained, "Starting with AstraZeneca, vaccines will be introduced sequentially from March at the latest."

Even after domestic introduction, vaccinations will not be conducted immediately. Since vaccine development is not yet complete and concerns about safety and efficacy remain, the government plans to flexibly determine the vaccination schedule considering domestic conditions, foreign vaccination trends, side effects, and public demand.

The initial recommended vaccination targets are about 36 million people, including vulnerable groups to COVID-19 such as the elderly, residents of group facilities, those with chronic diseases, and essential social service personnel such as healthcare workers. Essential social service personnel likely include medical institution workers, workers at nursing and home welfare facilities, first responders, police and firefighters, and military personnel.

However, for children and adolescents, since evidence on safety and efficacy is still insufficient, vaccination decisions will be made after continuously monitoring clinical trial results.

Minister Park stated, "Since vaccines are still in the pre-completion stage and there remains uncertainty about success due to possible side effects during vaccination, we have decided to pre-purchase more vaccines than the initially announced 30 million doses for the health and reassurance of the public."

He added, "Domestic therapeutic drugs currently under development are also expected to be commercialized as early as the beginning of next year. We expect a stronger quarantine system to be established through prevention, rapid detection and diagnosis, and early treatment."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.