COVAX reduces COVID-19 vaccines allocated for N. Korea: UN agency

The COVAX Facility, a global vaccine distribution platform, has reduced the amount of COVID-19 vaccines allocated for North Korea, a UN website showed Tuesday, apparently canceling a batch of jabs developed by a US company, in a move seen attributable to the lack of a response from Pyongyang.

A total of 1.29 million vaccines have been allocated to the North, according to the UN Children's Fund's COVID-19 Vaccine Market Dashboard, down 252,000 from the previous 1.54 million doses as of earlier this month.

In its vaccine allocation decision proposal last month, COVAX set aside 252,000 Covovax vaccines developed by Novavax Inc. for North Korea.

COVAX previously set aside 1.29 million doses of AstraZeneca vaccines for the North this year.

North Korea, which has claimed to be coronavirus-free, has yet to receive coronavirus vaccines amid its prolonged border controls against the pandemic. (Yonhap)