Seoul: Seoul: North Korea has rejected the planned delivery from the Covid-19 vaccine astrazeneca which is being held under the global Covax distribution scheme due to concerns about side effects, South Korean think, thanks on Friday.
Covax said it would provide nearly 2 million doses of astrazeneca shots to North Korea.
The first batch was expected at the end of May but was delayed in the midst of a protracted consultation, South Korea said last month.
North Korea has not reported the Covid-19 case, a position questioned by South Korean and US officials.
However, the closed country has been wearing strict anti-virus steps, including the closure of the border and domestic travel sidewalks.
According to a report by the National Security Strategy Institute (INSS), which is affiliated with the South Korean Spy Agency, Pyongyang now looks at other vaccine options.
The global alliance for vaccines and immunization alliances, one of the organizations that leads Covax, does not immediately reply to Reuters requests for comments.
The Inss report also said North Korea was not interested in Chinese vaccines because their concerns might be ineffective, but have shown interest in shots made in Russia, hoping they will be donated for free.
“It leaned towards the Russian vaccine, but there were no arrangements that had been made,” Lee Sang-Keun, Director of Strategic Research on the Korean Peninsula in the INI, told Reuters, quoted a source that was not named.
On Wednesday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Moscow had offered Pyongyang vaccines on a number of occasions.
Lee added that North Korea’s authority was concerned about the AstraZeneca vaccine after a report on a rare blood clotting event but was serious among the people who received it.
While North Korea allowed diplomats abroad to receive Covid-19 shots starting at the end of March, it did not make an effort to secure a vaccine for internal use, INSS said.