Pfizer Gives South Korea Room to Breathe, the Only Issue Now Is On-Time Delivery

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Bodies from COVID-19 Cremated in an Open Crematorium in India: Authorities in charge of responses to COVID-19 cremate the bodies of patients who died from COVID-19 in an open crematorium in New Delhi, India on April 24. Recently in India, the number of newly confirmed cases of COVID-19 continued to exceed 300,000 a day. New Delhi / Reuters Yonhap News

The government secured additional COVID-19 vaccines from Pfizer for 20 million people (40 million doses), bringing the nation a step closer to the goal of herd immunity by November. The number of vaccines that will be introduced in South Korea has increased from doses for 79 million people to 99 million people. Now the issue is whether or not the vaccines can arrive on schedule.

In an emergency press briefing on April 24, the government-wide task force on vaccine distribution announced that the government signed a contract to purchase additional vaccines for 20 million people. However, the government did not disclose the specific time of delivery according to the confidentiality clause.

So far, the government has secured vaccines for 99 million people, which is enough for 1.9 times the total population of South Korea. It is 2.75 times more than the amount needed for 70% of the population (36 million), which is the target of vaccination in order to establish herd immunity. The task force said, “This enables us to respond to the possibility of additional demand, such as a third shot (booster shot) or expanding the vaccination age to people younger than eighteen, in order to prepare for the uncertainty in the global vaccine supply and to respond to variants of the virus.”

The number of vaccines, on which the government signed an individual contract with Pfizer, has increased from doses for 13 million people to 33 million people.

Another positive accomplishment was that the government secured a massive amount of vaccines it could administer to teenagers. Recently, Pfizer announced that their vaccine was 100% effective in preventing COVID-19 in a clinical test of minors aged 12-15. The company is already conducting a clinical test on children aged 8-12.

However, the latest achievement will not immediately accelerate the speed of vaccination in the nation. The Pfizer vaccine of 59 million doses including the newly secured doses, will begin arriving in South Korea in the third quarter. So far, 1.87 million doses of the Pfizer vaccine has been supplied, and 5.55 million more doses will arrive in Korea within June. The vaccines secured for distribution in the first half of the year amounted to slightly over 18 million doses, and these were either from AstraZeneca or Pfizer. The government plans to use these vaccines to complete administering the first shots to 12 million people in the first half of the year. In addition, the government is also negotiating with Novavax, Moderna and Janssen to introduce 2.7 million doses in the second quarter.

South Korea will begin receiving a large number of vaccines beginning July. It is also in time for the government’s plans to vaccinate the general public aged 65 or younger. Nearly 80 million doses will be supplied between July and September, and 90 million doses between October and December. When we add the doses distributed in the first half of the year, the nation will be distributing nearly 100 million doses by September. The task force said, “We will be able to administer the second shots to all 44 million people aged eighteen and older by the end of September,” and mentioned the possibility of achieving herd immunity earlier than scheduled.

But the environment concerning the supply of vaccines is ever-changing due to the fierce competition among nations to secure them. It is also uncertain as to how effective the vaccines will be against variants of the virus that continue to evolve.

Jung Ki-suck, a professor of pulmonary medicine at Hallym University Medical School, who formerly served as the chief of the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said, “When the vaccine will actually arrive is most important,” and further said, “Since the government has secured enough vaccines, now the priority should be on realizing the invisible supply plan as smoothly as possible. Even if the government purchases more vaccines, they should do so by considering variants of the virus.”