Government Secures 44 Million Doses of COVID-19 Vaccine

Individual Contracts with 4 Overseas Companies... 88% Coverage for Entire Population
Sequential Introduction from Q1 Next Year... Vaccination Timing Undecided

Park Neung-hoo, the 1st Deputy Head of the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters (Minister of Health and Welfare), is announcing the COVID-19 vaccine introduction plan on the morning of the 8th at the briefing room of the Government Seoul Office Annex in Jongno-gu, Seoul. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

[Asia Economy Reporter Cho Hyun-ui] The government has secured up to 44 million doses of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccine through global pharmaceutical companies and multinational coalitions. It secured 10 million doses through the international vaccine development and supply project 'COVAX Facility' and 34 million doses through individual negotiations with multinational pharmaceutical companies such as AstraZeneca, Pfizer, Janssen, and Moderna.

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 overseas sufficient to vaccinate 60% of the population (about 30 million people), which is the level needed to form herd immunity, but decided to secure a larger quantity.

The pharmaceutical companies that agreed to pre-purchase with the government are four companies: AstraZeneca from the UK, and Pfizer, Janssen (a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson), and Moderna from the US. The quantities per company are 20 million doses from AstraZeneca, 20 million doses from Pfizer, 4 million doses from Janssen, and 20 million doses from Moderna. The government did not disclose the prices per product, citing that it would affect the final contract. However, it mentioned that AstraZeneca and Janssen are relatively inexpensive, while Pfizer and Moderna are relatively expensive.

The government has already signed a pre-purchase contract with AstraZeneca among the four overseas pharmaceutical companies. The other companies have also signed binding purchase terms to finalize purchase quantities. The COVAX Facility proposed supplying 10 million doses from AstraZeneca, Pfizer, and Sanofi (France), and the government agreed to this.

The pre-purchased vaccines are expected to be introduced gradually 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 domestically. Lim In-taek, Director of the Health Industry Policy Bureau at the Ministry of Health and Welfare, explained, "Starting with AstraZeneca by March next year at the latest, vaccines will be introduced sequentially."

Even after domestic introduction, vaccinations will not be conducted immediately. Minister Park said, "Since vaccine development is not yet complete and concerns about safety and efficacy remain, the government will flexibly decide 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, and those with chronic diseases, as well as essential social service personnel such as healthcare workers. Essential social service personnel likely include medical institution workers, workers at nursing homes and home welfare facilities, first responders, police and firefighters, and military personnel. However, since evidence on safety and efficacy is still insufficient for children and adolescents, vaccination decisions will be made after continuously monitoring clinical trial results.

Minister Park stated, "Since vaccines are still in the pre-completion stage and uncertainties about success such as side effects during vaccination remain, we decided to pre-purchase more vaccines than the initially announced 30 million doses for the health and reassurance of the public."

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

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