Delayed Moderna, promised in late August to early September... timing and scale remain undecided

Moderna Vaccine Supply Confusion Likely to Continue... Pfizer-Centered Vaccination for the Time Being
High-Intensity Quarantine Inevitable... Decision on 4th Stage Extension This Weekend

Kang Do-tae, the 2nd Vice Minister of Health and Welfare, is departing through Terminal 2 of Incheon International Airport on the 13th to resolve the supply disruption of Moderna vaccines from the U.S. pharmaceutical company. The government delegation, led by Vice Minister Kang, is scheduled to discuss smooth vaccine supply measures with the head of vaccine sales at Moderna on the afternoon of the 13th local U.S. time. Photo by Moon Ho-nam munonam@

[Asia Economy Reporters Seo So-jeong, Kim Ji-hee, Lee Chun-hee] Moderna, a US COVID-19 vaccine company, has decided to increase the supply volume for August and September beyond what was previously notified to Korea and to advance the supply schedule for September. However, since the exact timing and scale have not been finalized, confusion related to the Moderna vaccine is expected to continue for the time being.

Kang Do-tae, the 2nd Vice Minister of the Ministry of Health and Welfare, stated at the regular briefing of the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters on the 17th, "For the continuous development of the bilateral cooperative relationship between the Korean government and Moderna, early introduction of the third-quarter supply and stable vaccine supply are of utmost importance." He emphasized, "We strongly requested Moderna to provide the previously undelivered quantities by early August to September as much as possible, to advance the supply schedule of the planned quantities, and to promptly inform us of the specific supply schedule."

According to Moderna, the cause of the current supply disruption was a manufacturing laboratory issue at a partner manufacturing site, which has now been resolved, and the July supply is being gradually shipped. Moderna plans to notify our side again of the specific quantities and supply schedule by the end of this week.

◆ Pfizer-centered vaccinations for the time being = However, since the government has shifted the key to future vaccination to messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccines, difficulties in future epidemic response are expected until October. With the Moderna vaccine supply for this month halved, the interval for the second dose of mRNA vaccines for about 24.53 million people after the 16th has been extended from 4 weeks to 6 weeks. If the supply of Moderna vaccines faces difficulties, those aged 18 to 49 who have not yet received their first dose are likely to receive their vaccines much later than currently scheduled.

Considering the voices calling for raising the target of 70% (36 million people) full vaccination of the entire population by November, which was the criterion for achieving herd immunity, due to the spread of the Delta variant, there are also opinions that achieving herd immunity within this year will be difficult. Authorities have also expressed their intention to review raising the vaccination target rate considering variants and other factors.

However, there is also a forecast that even if the supply of Moderna vaccines is disrupted, there will be no major setbacks in this year's vaccination goals. Pfizer, which is currently maintaining stable supply, is expected to deliver about 48 million more doses, and excluding Moderna and Novavax, a total of about 74.18 million doses of vaccines will be introduced.

Even if the schedule is somewhat delayed or emergency measures are taken to vaccinate with vaccines other than mRNA vaccines, completing vaccination for the entire population is still possible. Vice Minister Kang said, "The government will make every effort to ensure that the public receives vaccinations without disruption according to the vaccination plan, achieve 36 million first doses before Chuseok, and restore precious daily life as soon as possible."

◆ Maintaining Level 4 social distancing in the metropolitan area is inevitable = Given the current situation where vaccine supply is tightly constrained and the Delta variant is leading the COVID-19 outbreak, there are calls to continue strong quarantine measures until the vaccination rate reaches a certain level. The metropolitan area has already been under Level 4, the highest stage of the current social distancing system, for six weeks, but the outbreak has not subsided.

According to the Central Disease Control Headquarters, 1,373 new COVID-19 cases were confirmed in a single day yesterday. Although the number fell below 1,400 for the first time in two weeks since the 3rd (1,200 cases), it is difficult to say that the spread has been curbed due to a decrease in testing during the Liberation Day holiday period. The highest number of daily confirmed cases by day of the week continued for ten days until the 16th. With large-scale new cases still occurring in Gyeongnam (103 cases) and Busan (65 cases), the proportion of non-metropolitan area cases among total locally transmitted cases reached 38.8%.

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