7,01 million episodes of Moderna in 2 weeks… Will the vaccine supply disruption be resolved?

[아시아경제 이춘희 기자] Moderna, which had predicted the supply of ‘half’ for 8.5 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine this month, which was originally scheduled for this month, promised again to introduce more vaccines. However, it is expected to supply up to 8.31 million servings within this month, as the volume does not reach the originally scheduled 8.5 million servings.

On the 22nd, the Ministry of Health and Welfare’s central accident management headquarters announced that the previous day, Moderna had delivered a plan to supply 7.01 million doses of vaccine to Korea by next week. Of these, 1,110,000 are scheduled to arrive at Incheon International Airport at 2:40 pm on the 23rd. The remaining 6 million episodes will be introduced sequentially until the first week of September (last week of August) next week.

Earlier, on the 6th, Moderna announced that it would supply less than half of the 8.5 million doses it had promised with the Korean government, saying that there was a disruption in the global supply of its COVID-19 vaccine due to a manufacturing laboratory problem.

Concerned about the disruption in vaccine supply, the government dispatched a four-person delegation to the United States on the 13th, including 2nd Vice Minister of Welfare Kang Do-tae and Blue House Social Policy Secretary Ryu Geun-hyuk. The delegation, who visited Moderna’s headquarters in Cambridge, met with Corinne Le Gough, Chief Sales Officer of Moderna on the 13th (local time) to discuss possible vaccine supply disruptions and stabilization measures. In response, Moderna has promised to re-notify the plan to supply vaccines to Korea by this weekend.

After these discussions, Moderna informed the Korean government that it would supply 7.01 million doses by next week in response to our request to advance the supply period and increase the supply by early next month.

If 1.3 million doses of vaccine supplied on the 7th are included, the maximum dose of Moderna vaccine 8.31 million doses is planned to be introduced within this month. Although it still falls short of the 8.5 million servings that Moderna had promised to supply, it is a significant increase from the ‘half’ volume due to production setbacks.

The authorities predicted that vaccination could be carried out more stably as the fear of the massive supply cessation of Moderna vaccines has come to an end. As early as Chuseok (September 21), it is expected that the first vaccination will be achieved for 36 million people, 70% of the total population.

Deputy Minister Kang Do-tae said, “Reflecting the uncertainty in the supply and demand of Moderna vaccines, we initially established an inoculation plan so that 36 million people could achieve the first vaccination by Chuseok.

Meanwhile, the government also expressed its position on the controversy over the free delivery of the Moderna vaccine by Romania that surfaced the day before. The government said, “Currently, we are negotiating with Romania, such as the mutual donation of vaccines and medical devices, for the purpose of cooperating with each other in the field of quarantine necessary for each other.” is not true.”

He also refuted the allegations that Romania was providing a vaccine that was about to expire, saying it was not true. The government said, “The validity period of the vaccine under discussion is after November.”

The day before, the local media in Romania The Romanian government reported that it has decided to donate 450,000 doses of Moderna vaccine to South Korea. The vaccine was delivered as a quantity nearing the expiration date as the rate of vaccination in the summer in Romania slowed down.

Reporter Lee Chun-hee spring@asiae.co.kr