April 20, 2024
COVID-19

North Korea refuses offer of 3 million Sinovac vaccines

UNICEF says DPRK yielded the doses to other countries, while expert says Pyongyang may fear potential side effects

North Korea has rejected COVAX’s offer to provide around 3 million doses of Sinovac COVID-19 vaccines, a World Health Organization (WHO) official confirmed to NK News on Wednesday.

“[The] DPRK has communicated to Gavi that it would be looking at future opportunities for COVID-19 vaccines through COVAX,” Edwin Salvador, the WHO representative to North Korea, told NK News in an email, without commenting on why Pyongyang is not interested in receiving the Sinovac doses.

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