The government says it has purchased 23 million additional Pfizer and NovaVax vaccines. As a result, the total amount of vaccines secured so far has increased to 79 million people. Among them, the Pfizer vaccine is expected to be given first to medical staff next month, followed by more people from April.
This is Park Soo-jin.
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Additional vaccines secured by the government were 3 million Pfizer and 20 million NovaVax.
The total number of Pfizer vaccines is 13 million, including the existing 10 million people that were supposed to be introduced in the third quarter of this year.
The government decided to advance the introduction schedule to receive 500,000 people at the end of next month and 3 million people in the second quarter.
[정경실/질병관리청 예방접종관리반장 : 화이자 백신이 도입되는 시기가 3월 말입니다. 주로 접종을 시작하는 것은 3월 말 또는 4월이 될 텐데요.]
Among the Pfizer vaccines, the first 58,000 people who come through COVAX at the beginning of next month will be the Corona 19 medical staff, and the 500,000 people who will arrive at the end of next month will most likely be hit by medical institutions and pharmacies according to the vaccination order.
SK Bioscience is already consigning production of 20 million NovaVax in Korea.
Unlike Pfizer, video can be stored and distributed at 2 to 8 degrees, so it is possible to visit the elderly or severely handicapped.
The quarantine authorities believe that NovaVax vaccination will only be available after the second quarter.
Therefore, we plan to maintain the current vaccination schedule for most of the AstraZeneca vaccine until next month, except for the elderly.
[정경실/질병관리청 예방접종관리반장 : (아스트라제네카 추가 임상 결과) 만약에 (고령층) 접종이 어려운 것으로 판단이 된다면 3월 이후에 들어오는 화이자 백신이라든지 모더나, 얀센 백신 같은 다른 백신을 활용하는 방안도 (검토하겠습니다.)]
The quarantine authorities explained that President Moon Jae-in, who is 68 years old this year, is expected to get the vaccine from May to June depending on the vaccination ranking.
(Video coverage: Kim Min-cheol, Video editing: Kim Jong-mi, CG: Kang Yu-ra)