SEOUL (Reuters) – South Korea released its first dose of coronavirus vaccine on Wednesday, moving AstraZeneca vaccines from a production facility in the country to a warehouse outside the Seoul capital in preparation for this week ‘s inoculation campaign.
Healthcare workers are expected to receive the first batch of AstraZeneca PLC vaccine from Friday, as South Korea looks to protect 10 million high-risk people by July, on its way to herd protection before -November.
AstraZeneca’s sights will be enough for about 750,000 people to be distributed from the production facility of SK Chemicals Co Ltd’s biological biology unit to vaccine centers across the country starting Wednesday.
“We will begin the first historic vaccination on Friday with the vaccines released today,” Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun said at a government meeting. “This is the first step in getting us back to normal. ”
Last week, a government poll showed almost 94% of 367,000 healthcare workers aged 64 and under in priority groups said they were ready to take the AstraZeneca vaccine, despite concerns about its effectiveness in the elderly.
“The government is carefully preparing the whole process of vaccine distribution from transition to transport, circulation, vaccination and mismanagement so that the public can see the scenes with confidence,” Chung said.
Seoul mayor Seo Jung-hyup said Wednesday that the grand vaccination plan can only be made with widespread public participation.
“In order to implement the Seoul city vaccination plan on schedule, the trust and co-operation of citizens is absolutely essential,” he told a briefing.
Reciting with Josh Smith; Edited by Christopher Cushing