"Final Stage of Next Year's Vaccine Procurement Negotiations"… Targeting 50 Million mRNA Doses for Booster Shots

On the 2nd, citizens are receiving vaccines at the COVID-19 vaccination center set up at the Eunpyeong-gu Culture and Arts Center in Seoul. Photo by Mun Ho-nam munonam@

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Chun-hee] The government announced that negotiations for the procurement of COVID-19 vaccines for next year, which are currently underway, are in the final stages. The target quantity for next year is 50 million doses of Pfizer and Moderna mRNA (messenger ribonucleic acid) vaccines, enough for one dose per person nationwide.

Lee Ki-il, the 1st Controller of the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasure Headquarters (Director of Health and Medical Policy at the Ministry of Health and Welfare), stated at the regular COVID-19 Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasure Headquarters briefing on the 4th, "(Next year's) vaccine procurement is almost in the final stage," adding, "The amount is roughly 50 million doses, centered on mRNA vaccines, enough for one dose per person nationwide." He also added, "This budget is reflected in the supplementary budget as well."

Regarding this quantity setting, Controller Lee explained, "The approved age has been reflected, and the quantity sufficiently considers the use for booster shots and response to variant viruses." He also explained, "For booster shots, it is planned to be administered once," and "50 million doses are equivalent to 50 million people." The intention is to secure enough doses to provide one additional booster shot to approximately 50 million people, excluding children under 6 years old, out of the roughly 52 million Korean nationals.

However, the quarantine authorities stated that they cannot comment on the specific contract details. Controller Lee explained, "It is difficult to clearly confirm and disclose the contract timing now," adding, "(Contracts) are made with the other party, so we are in the stage of checking the progress mutually." He said, "We will inform the public as soon as the contract is signed," and "It is almost well underway."

It was also confirmed that there are no domestically developed vaccines among the vaccines scheduled for procurement. Previously, the government announced plans to promote domestic COVID-19 vaccine development by pursuing advance purchase agreements as a form of support. However, Controller Lee stated, "Seven domestic companies are currently developing vaccines," but "no company has yet signed an advance purchase agreement." He added, "Once some clinical results come out, we plan to review the results and proceed with advance purchases."