White House: "Janssen Vaccine Heads to Korea Today... Korea's Situation Is Special"

19 Million Doses Provided via COVAX Out of 25 Million; Direct Supply Only to Canada, Mexico, India, and Korea; National Security Advisor Emphasizes "Korea Situation Is to Protect US Forces in Korea"

[Asia Economy New York=Correspondent Baek Jong-min] The White House announced on the 3rd (local time) that 1 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine will depart for Korea this evening. The vaccine support for Korea was described as a special situation for the protection of the US Forces Korea.

Jeff Zients, White House COVID-19 Coordinator, said at a COVID-19 briefing, "The 1 million doses of the Janssen vaccine promised by President Joe Biden to Korea will be loaded onto an aircraft in California and depart for Korea this evening."

The Korea COVID-19 Vaccination Response Promotion Team previously stated that a military transport plane carrying 1.01 million doses of the Janssen vaccine is scheduled to arrive at Seongnam Seoul Airport around 1 a.m. Korean time on the 5th.

[Image source=EPA Yonhap News]

Jake Sullivan, White House National Security Advisor, also attended the briefing and emphasized the legitimacy of directly providing vaccines to Korea.

The countries to which the United States directly supplies vaccines are only four: Korea, Canada, Mexico, and India. Among these, Korea is the only country where US troops are stationed.

Regarding the question about 6 million doses out of the 25 million doses of vaccines to be donated overseas being supplied directly to Korea and others without going through COVAX, Advisor Sullivan said, "The situation in Korea is special," and added, "As President Moon Jae-in mentioned during his visit to the US, the purpose is actually to protect the US military and the forces serving alongside them." He further explained, "The Korean military stands shoulder to shoulder with us in that country."

Advisor Sullivan explained, "So this is a special case and one where we want to maintain a certain flexibility," adding, "More than 75% of the majority is distributed through COVAX, but we maintain the ability to allocate vaccines outside of COVAX as needed, and Korea is such a case."