Additional Procurement of 30 Million Pfizer and 20 Million Novavax Vaccine Doses... Totaling 79 Million Doses

Pfizer and BioNTech's COVID-19 vaccine
[Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]

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[Asia Economy Reporter Chunhee Lee] The government has successfully secured an additional 23 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines to ensure a smooth supply. With this, the total number of vaccine doses secured by our government has increased to 79 million.

The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) announced on the 16th that it had signed an additional contract for 23 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines. The government signed an additional purchase contract on the 15th for 3 million doses (6 million shots) of the Pfizer vaccine and advanced the supply start date, originally scheduled for the third quarter, to the end of next month. Along with this, a contract was also signed for 20 million doses (40 million shots) of the Novavax vaccine, which had been under negotiation.

As a result, the Pfizer vaccine secured by our government increased to a total of 13 million doses, adding 3 million doses to the previously secured 10 million doses. The delivery schedule was also advanced, with 500,000 doses to be imported first next month, followed by 3 million doses in the second quarter.

The Pfizer vaccine is currently undergoing product approval review by the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, and once national release approval is completed by the end of next month, vaccinations are planned to begin in April.

President Moon Jae-in is holding a COVID-19 vaccine produced at the SK Bioscience factory in Andong, Gyeongbuk, during his visit on the 20th of last month. [Image source=Yonhap News]

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Additionally, on the 16th at 10 a.m., the KDCA held a contract signing ceremony with SK Bioscience for the supply of 20 million doses of the Novavax COVID-19 vaccine. James Young, chairman of Novavax, participated via video connection from the U.S. headquarters to discuss cooperation plans related to the production and supply of COVID-19 vaccines among the KDCA, Novavax, and SK Bioscience.

Notably, SK Bioscience signed a vaccine technology transfer contract (technology license) on the 12th, enabling the production of the Novavax vaccine at domestic factories, which the government will pre-purchase and supply within the country.

Accordingly, the Novavax vaccine will be the first case of producing COVID-19 vaccines domestically through technology transfer. It is expected to contribute to securing original vaccine development technology while establishing a stable vaccine supply foundation.

In particular, the Novavax vaccine uses a recombinant antigen platform, which has been applied to many vaccines such as influenza and hepatitis B, differing from the mRNA and viral vector platforms previously purchased by the government. The recombinant antigen vaccine induces an immune response by synthesizing antigen proteins and mixing them with an adjuvant before administration to the human body. It can be stored and distributed refrigerated at 2 to 8 degrees Celsius.

Jung Eun-kyung, commissioner of the KDCA, stated, "In a global situation with many uncertainties in vaccine supply, the early introduction of domestically producible Novavax vaccines and Pfizer vaccines will contribute to stable supply," adding, "We have secured a total of 79 million doses (152 million shots) of vaccines so far and will continue to strive for early supply and rapid vaccination."

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