South Korea To Ink COVID Vaccine Supply Deals With Janssen, Pfizer Later In Dec - Official

South Korea plans to finalize agreements on the supply of COVID-19 vaccines with Johnson & Johnson's Janssen and Pfizer later in December, Im In-taek, a health ministry official in charge of vaccine purchase, said on Friday

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 18th December, 2020) South Korea plans to finalize agreements on the supply of COVID-19 vaccines with Johnson & Johnson's Janssen and Pfizer later in December, Im In-taek, a health ministry official in charge of vaccine purchase, said on Friday.

Earlier this week, Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun said that the country intended to begin acquiring COVID-19 vaccines in the first quarter of 2021. South Korea has so far secured doses for up to 44 million people � 88 percent of the nation's population � from AstraZeneca, Pfizer, Janssen and Moderna, as well as via the COVAX initiative.

"We will sign a contract with Yanssen [Janssen] as early as next week and will be able to strike a deal with Pfizer within this year," Im said at a briefing, as cited by the Yonhap news agency.

The official also said that the government was also in talks to secure COVID-19 vaccines via the COVAX initiative in the first quarter of 2021, with the negotiations set to continue through next week.

In addition to the four pharmaceutical companies, Seoul has also been negotiating with the US' Novavax on additional vaccines' supply, the official said without giving details.