Aug. 5 (UPI) — COVID-19 vaccines for North Korea are being delayed because the Kim Jong Un regime has not completed requirements for their deployment, according to a new press report.
A spokesperson for the United Nations Children’s Fund said that Pyongyang has not been making the required arrangements after agreeing to import about 1.7 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines, Voice of America’s Korean service reported Thursday.
“The government has not yet fully completed the necessary preparatory steps required to receive COVAX-supported vaccines but UNICEF is providing technical assistance in this area,” UNICEF said.
The World Health Organization and “UNICEF continue to work with the [North Korean] Ministry of Public Health to ensure access to COVID-19 vaccines through the COVAX Facility.
“However, the country has not received any vaccine yet through this mechanism.”
UNICEF also confirmed that “restrictions on movement” in North Korea has prevented the U.N. staff from undertaking field-based assessments.
“This has inevitably created a gap in available data,” the agency said.
COVAX was expected to donate vaccines to fully inoculate 852,000 people in North Korea earlier this year, but lack of cooperation from Pyongyang has impeded delivery, according to reports.
North Korea in July also took issue with foreign aid. Pyongyang’s foreign ministry said last month that outside assistance is a form of “economic infiltration” that should “never be tolerated.”
UNICEF also said that the agency delivered other vaccines since the start of pandemic, including a shipment in the second quarter of 2020.
“Currently, there are only stocks of Hepatitis B vaccine in-country,” the agency said.
South Korea also has disclosed plans to “share” COVID-19 vaccines with the North. The Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization, co-leader of COVAX, has said that South Korea pledged to donate $200 million to the Facility.