WHO "North Korea Begins Preparations for COVID-19 Vaccine Introduction"

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General.
Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Dong-hyun] It has been revealed that North Korea is making preliminary preparations to import COVID-19 vaccines.

According to Radio Free Asia (RFA) on the 5th, Edwin Salvador, the World Health Organization (WHO) Pyongyang office chief, stated in an interview with RFA, "As a COVAX member country, North Korea is undergoing the process of meeting the technical requirements to receive COVID-19 vaccine supplies."

He added, "WHO will continue to cooperate with North Korea to help them meet the technical requirements and prepare for vaccine supply." However, he did not specify what the 'technical requirements' that North Korea must fulfill to receive vaccines entail.

Previously, the international joint procurement project for COVID-19 vaccines, the 'COVAX Facility,' allocated 1,992,000 doses of vaccines to North Korea. North Korea is one of the 92 low-income countries eligible for the 'COVAX Advance Market Commitment (COVAX AMC),' which supplies vaccines to developing countries funded by donations from developed countries.

COVAX initially planned to deliver 1,704,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine produced by the Serum Institute of India (SII) to North Korea by the end of this month, but the supply is expected to be delayed.

According to the WHO situation report, as of the 15th of last month, 24,542 residents in North Korea had been tested for COVID-19. No confirmed cases have been reported so far.