Secured 44 Million COVID-19 Vaccine Doses... Sequential Introduction Starting Early Next Year (Comprehensive)

Individual Contracts with 4 Overseas Companies... 88% Coverage for Entire Population
Vaccination Timing Undecided... "Side Effect Immunity, Acceptance Inevitable"

Minister of Health and Welfare Park Neung-hoo is announcing the COVID-19 vaccine introduction plan on the morning of the 8th at 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.

34 million doses from AstraZeneca, Pfizer, Janssen, and Moderna

The pharmaceutical companies that agreed to pre-purchase with the government are four companies: AstraZeneca from the UK, and Pfizer, Janssen (a Johnson & Johnson subsidiary), 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 COVAX Facility proposed supplying 10 million doses from AstraZeneca, Pfizer, and Sanofi (France), and the government agreed to this.

The prices per product are undisclosed as they may affect the final contract. However, the government 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 three companies have also finalized purchase quantities by signing binding purchase terms. Vaccines from latecomers such as Russia's Sputnik and the US's Novavax were not included in this pre-purchase. However, the government plans to monitor development trends and negotiate further if necessary.

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

Minister of Health and Welfare Park Neung-hoo is briefing on the COVID-19 vaccine introduction plan at the Government Seoul Office Annex in Jongno-gu, Seoul, on the 8th. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

Priority vaccination for elderly, chronic patients, and healthcare workers... "Vaccination for children and adolescents requires clinical observation"

Even if vaccines are introduced domestically, vaccination will not proceed 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 priority vaccination targets are about 36 million people, including the elderly, residents of group facilities, chronic disease patients vulnerable to COVID-19, and essential social service personnel such as healthcare workers. Essential social service personnel likely include medical institution workers, nursing home and home welfare facility workers, first responders, police and firefighters, and military personnel. The government plans to provide free vaccination for these groups.

However, for children and adolescents, since evidence on safety and efficacy is still insufficient, the government will continuously monitor clinical trial results before deciding on vaccination.

De facto acceptance of 'side effect exemption'... Safety ensured through domestic testing

The government explained that although vaccine developers' demands for 'side effect exemption' during purchase negotiations are unfair, they had no choice but to accept them realistically. Minister Park said, "Due to supply shortages compared to demand and the explosive increase in confirmed cases, we had to accept some unfair terms or contracts. Please understand that it is difficult for us alone to avoid or reject the side effect exemption."

He added, "Even after vaccine introduction, the government will conduct safety verification tests. We will secure sufficient safety through this process." To this end, the government plans to establish an integrated vaccine management information system for pre-registration and adverse reaction management and secure and train personnel to carry out vaccination tasks.

Additionally, the government will establish a 'COVID-19 Vaccination Response Promotion Team' (tentative name) within the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency to quickly set up the vaccination system. Since Pfizer's vaccine requires storage at ultra-low temperatures of minus 70 to 80 degrees Celsius and each product has different distribution conditions, shelf life, and number of doses, thorough pre-planning of vaccination schedules is necessary.

Minister Park said, "Domestic therapeutic drugs currently under development are expected to be commercialized as early as the beginning of next year," and added, "A stronger quarantine system can be established through prevention, rapid detection and diagnosis, and early treatment."

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