The Final COVID-19 Vaccine Supply of the Year... A Total of 118.9 Million Doses Procured

61% of Total Contract Volume of 195.34 Million Doses
Only Pfizer and AZ Fully Imported... Novavax at '0'

On the morning of October 28, Moderna vaccines, contract-manufactured at Samsung Biologics' vaccine factory in Songdo, Yeonsu-gu, Incheon, were shipped domestically for the first time. / Photo by Joint Press Corps

[Asia Economy Reporter Chunhee Lee] With the supply of approximately 1.5 million doses of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine on the 30th, the vaccine imports for this year will be completed. As a result, the total number of vaccine doses secured by our government this year is expected to reach 118.9 million doses.

Hong Jeong-ik, head of the Vaccination Management Team at the COVID-19 Vaccination Response Promotion Group, stated during the COVID-19 vaccine briefing on the afternoon of the 29th, "Tomorrow (the 30th), 1,499,000 doses of the Moderna vaccine will be imported," adding, "This appears to be the last shipment for this year." According to the Promotion Group, as of 3:30 PM on the 30th, 1,499,000 doses of the Moderna vaccine are scheduled to be shipped from Samsung Biologics' contract manufacturing organization (CMO) plant in Songdo, Incheon, which is responsible for domestic production.

If this shipment is the last, the total number of vaccine doses imported into the country this year will be 118.9 million doses, consisting of ▲AstraZeneca (AZ) 22.102 million doses ▲Pfizer 67.904 million doses ▲Moderna 25.975 million doses ▲Janssen 2.92 million doses. Among these, 2.102 million AZ doses and 414,000 Pfizer doses were procured through the global vaccine procurement project 'COVAX Facility.' The remaining doses were all secured through direct contracts with vaccine manufacturers.

Thus, only 60.9% of the total 195.34 million vaccine doses promised for import this year have been delivered domestically. Among these, all doses contracted for supply from Pfizer (67.49 million doses) and AZ (20 million doses) have been imported. Moderna promised a total of 40.45 million doses but fell short by 14.475 million doses, and Janssen did not receive 4.48 million doses out of the 7.4 million doses. The Novavax vaccine, which has not yet been approved by the domestic Ministry of Food and Drug Safety or the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), has not been imported at all, totaling 40 million doses. Vaccines procured through the COVAX Facility were supposed to total 20 million doses, but only 2.516 million doses have been received.

The government plans to distribute the approximately 76 million doses of vaccines not yet imported over next year, considering expiration dates and domestic vaccination plans. However, since the COVAX Facility focuses more on ensuring smooth vaccine supply to developing countries rather than advanced countries, there is a high possibility that these doses may not be received.

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