SEOUL, South Korea (AP) – North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has ordered officials to conduct a tough epidemic-prevention campaign in our style after rejecting some foreign COVID-19 vaccines offered through the UN-supported vaccination program.
During a Politburo meeting on Thursday, Kim said officials must “keep in mind that tightening the prevention of the epidemic is the most important task that should not be let go for a moment,” he reported Friday. Korea’s official news agency.
While stressing the need for material and technical means to prevent viruses and increase the skills of health workers, Kim also called for “further rounding up our style of epidemic prevention system,” KCNA said.
Kim had previously called on North Koreans to defend prolonged restrictions on COVID-19, indicating that the nation’s borders would remain closed despite worsening economic and food conditions. Since the beginning of the pandemic, North Korea has used harsh quarantines and border closures to prevent outbreaks, although its claim to being completely virus-free is widely questioned.
On Tuesday, UNICEF, which procures and delivers vaccines on behalf of the COVAX distribution program, said North Korea proposed sending about 3 million Sinovac shots to severely affected countries. North Korea was also scheduled to receive shots from AstraZeneca via COVAX, but its delivery has been delayed.
According to UNICEF, the North Korean health ministry still said it would continue to communicate with COVAX about future vaccines.
Some experts believe North Korea may want other vaccines, although they question the effectiveness of Sinovac and the rare blood clots seen in some AstraZeneca vaccine recipients.
The 1.9 million doses of AstraZeneca previously allocated would be enough to vaccinate 950,000 people, only about 7.3% of the 26 million people in the north, meaning North Korea would still need many more vaccine quantities to vaccinate. inoculate its population.
Leif-Eric Easley, a professor of international studies at Ewha Womans University in Seoul, said North Korea is likely to receive more effective COVAX strikes and assign them strategically to the country.
“Pyongyang appears to have problems with COVAX involving legal liability and distribution reporting requirements. Therefore, vaccines could be purchased from China to be delivered to border regions and soldiers while assigning COVAX shots to lesser populations. sensitive, ”Easley said.
“The Kim regime is likely to want the safest and most effective vaccine for the elite, but the Pfizer administration would require improved cold chain capacity in Pyongyang and at least discreet discussions with the United States. The Johnson & Johnson option could also be useful for North Korea, given the vaccine’s portability and single-vaccine regime, “he said.
In a recent UN report on the human rights situation in the North, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called on North Korea to “take all necessary measures, including international cooperation and assistance. , to provide access for all people to COVID-19 vaccines, without discrimination. ”
He also called on North Korea to form a plan to allow diplomats and aid workers to return to the north and reactivate humanitarian aid distribution systems as soon as possible, along with the launch of the COVID-19 vaccine. .
After their meeting in Seoul last month, Sung Kim, the top U.S. diplomat in North Korean affairs, and his South Korean counterpart Noh Kyu-duk told reporters they discussed humanitarian cooperation with Korea. North to provide antivirus resources, sanitation and safe water. .