Reuters KIM HONG-JI
South Korea announced that it does not rule out purchasing the Russian “Sputnik V” vaccine against “Covid-19”, and is studying the possibility of purchasing it among other vaccines in the event that new strains of the virus emerge.
This came in statements made by Jung Eun Kyung, head of the South Korean Agency for Disease Control and Prevention, during a press conference on Monday.
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In response to a question about whether there are plans to purchase the “Sputnik V” vaccine, the official said: “With regard to the Russian vaccine, we consider it as a possible alternative option among other vaccines. There have been problems with virus mutations and vaccines, and very different vaccines must be considered.” Different platforms, so we leave this possibility open. “
Jung explained that there are currently no specific plans to acquire “Sputnik V”, and that Seoul is negotiating “almost in its final stage” to purchase an additional 40 million doses of the American “Novavax” vaccine, which will suffice to vaccinate 20 million people.
The official confirmed that South Korea is scheduled to start the vaccination campaign on February 26, with the “AstraZeneca” vaccine, which was granted approval for its use on February 10, but the vaccination of elderly people will be suspended amid concerns about the effectiveness of the vaccine.
Earlier, the “Gamalia” Center for Epidemiology and Microbiology Research at the Russian Ministry of Health confirmed that when manufacturing “Sputnik V”, the possibility that the Corona virus would undergo mutations was taken into account, and that the new strains that have appeared so far do not affect the effectiveness of the vaccine.
Source: Agencies
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