Expected to supply 60,000 people through Kobax after mid-February
(Seoul = Yonhap News) Reporter Gye Seung-hyun = The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety announced on the 3rd that it plans to approve the special import of Pfizer’s new coronavirus infection (Corona 19) vaccine within this week.
The previous day, the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced that it would apply for a special import of Pfizer vaccine to the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, reflecting the expert advisory meeting held in conjunction with the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety.
Kim Sang-bong, head of the Bio-Pharmaceutical Bureau of the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, said in a phone call with Yonhap News, “We have already discussed several times with the Korean Disease Service and the result is an advisory meeting.”
Special import is a system that allows drugs that are not approved domestically to be imported from abroad to cope with the pandemic of infectious diseases, and was utilized in the process of introducing remdesivir, a treatment for Corona 19.
The preventive effect of Pfizer vaccine was found to be about 95% in clinical trials, which is the highest among the five vaccines to be imported in Korea. It must be inoculated twice in total, and a cryogenic refrigeration system is required for storage and distribution.
Pfizer’s vaccine is expected to be supplied in Korea at a scale of 11 people and 7,000 doses (for about 60,000 people) through the international project’COVAX facility’ after mid-February.
