SEOUL– An additional batch of COVID-19 vaccine doses from Moderna Inc. arrived in South Korea on Monday, following a supply disruption at the U.S. pharmaceutical company that drew protest from Seoul.
An airplane carrying about 2.5 million doses of the Moderna vaccine landed at Incheon International Airport, west of Seoul, marking the fifth batch of shots that arrived here since the U.S. drugmaker promised to supply 7 million doses last month.
Moderna earlier planned to supply 8.5 million doses of vaccines to South Korea in August but notified Seoul of an adjustment in which the amount would be more than halved due to a production issue.
South Korea sent a delegation to its headquarters in mid-August in protest, and Moderna promised to send 7 million doses of vaccines in the following two weeks.
Moderna has since sent 6.7 million doses of vaccines, including Monday’s shipment, which represents some 96.4 percent of the promised amount.
Authorities said they are consulting with Moderna over the remaining doses and schedule for the additional supply.
Separately, 455,000 doses of the Moderna vaccine, which were secured under an exchange deal with Romania, will arrive here Wednesday, authorities said.
About 526,500 Pfizer vaccine shots will be delivered on the same day, the first batch of 1.05 million doses purchased from the Romanian government.
South Korea has been striving to raise the vaccination rate as tough virus restrictions have remained in place over the past two months amid the worst wave of the pandemic.
Slightly over 30 million people had been inoculated with their first vaccine shots as of Monday, accounting for around 58 percent of the country’s 52 million population, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency.
With the additional supply, authorities are optimistic about the goal of inoculating at least 70 percent of the population before the fall harvest Chuseok holiday set for Sept. 20-22.
Source: Yonhap News Agency