Will the 'Han-Mi Vaccine Swap' Be Signed? 14 US Lawmakers Propose to the Cheongwadae

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Jin-ho Kim] The U.S. political sphere has stepped up to support South Korea, which is facing difficulties in securing COVID-19 vaccines.

On the 13th (local time), according to Minseon Kim, a Korean-American and director of the Korean Immigration History Museum and a member of the New York State Democratic Party, 14 bipartisan members of the U.S. House of Representatives, including Carolyn Maloney, Chairwoman of the House Oversight and Reform Committee, sent a letter to President Joe Biden urging the establishment of a 'vaccine swap' agreement with South Korea.

In the letter, they pointed out that despite the U.S. providing 1 million doses of the Janssen vaccine following the May Korea-U.S. summit, South Korea is still struggling with vaccine administration. They further urged consideration of lending vaccines to help South Korea rapidly expand its vaccination capacity.

The vaccine lending they propose is a concept of vaccine swap, where surplus vaccines in the U.S. would be lent first and then returned later. Given the importance of the Korea-U.S. alliance, they argue that the U.S. government should assist South Korea.

Chairwoman Maloney and others also sent a letter to the White House just before the May Korea-U.S. summit, urging swift vaccine support for South Korea, which helped facilitate the provision of Janssen vaccines.

Meanwhile, according to health authorities, as of midnight on the 11th, the first-dose vaccination rate relative to the population is only 42.1%, and the second-dose rate is 15.7%. The number of people who have completed the second dose is 8.06 million.

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