Moderna to resume COVID-19 vaccine shipments to S. Korea next week: govt.

US pharmaceutical company Moderna will resume provisions of COVID-19 vaccines to South Korea next week, the prime minister said Wednesday, following a delay due to an issue linked to the company's vaccine production.

Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum announced the company's vaccine supply resumption plan at an interagency COVID-19 response meeting, explaining that health officials discussed the matter with Moderna officials late Tuesday through a video conference.

The government said Tuesday that Moderna provided notification late last week of an unidentified issue with the US firm's vaccine production plans, with the shipments initially set to arrive late this month having been delayed to August.

In December, the government signed a deal with Moderna to buy its vaccine for 20 million people, with the 40 million doses agreed to be delivered in successive batches starting in the second quarter of this year.

Kim also said health authorities will announce a readjustment to the public vaccine campaign Friday in light of the Moderna supply delay.

The prime minister stressed the need to further strengthen virus response measures in the coming days, noting that the "expansion of COVID-19 is showing no signs of abating despite a series of measures nationwide." (Yonhap)