Trump "Vaccine Priority Supply to US"... Government "Difficult to Judge Domestic Impact" (Update)

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Cho Hyun-ui] The government stated that it is "still difficult to determine whether there will be any disruption to the domestic introduction" of COVID-19 vaccines after U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order prioritizing vaccination of Americans with the COVID-19 vaccine.

On the 10th, Yoon Tae-ho, head of the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters' quarantine team, responded to a question during a briefing asking, "Does the U.S. executive order affect the schedule for domestic vaccine introduction?"

AstraZeneca's vaccine is being contract-produced by SK Bioscience. The government has previously announced plans to prioritize supplying AstraZeneca vaccines produced in domestic factories to the domestic market.

Yoon said, "The AstraZeneca vaccine produced domestically may be less affected by the U.S. executive order," but added, "It is necessary to check the detailed contents of the executive order."

The executive order signed by President Trump on the 8th (local time) includes provisions that vaccines developed or produced in the U.S. should be prioritized for Americans before considering overseas exports, but it does not specify concrete implementation measures. However, President Trump mentioned invoking the Defense Production Act (DPA), a law that allows the government to require private companies to produce certain materials in emergencies.

Yoon stated, "It depends on the level of the executive order," and added, "We need to confirm whether it includes provisions that all vaccines produced outside the U.S. must be sent to the U.S., even if they are produced in other countries."

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