North Korea coronavirus vaccines delayed, as UN-backed program renews efforts

The United Nations-backed global vaccination effort is offering a new allocation of coronavirus vaccine to North Korea, one of a few countries yet to start inoculating residents after a delay in a distribution program slated to begin this summer. The Gavi Alliance, part of the Covax initiative that aims to deliver vaccines to the world’s most vulnerable people, said last week that it has allocated nearly 3 million doses of the Chinese-made Sinovac vaccine to North Korea. The announcement came after plans to deliver nearly 2 million doses of the AstraZeneca-Oxford University vaccine were scrapped, amid North Korea’s apparent concerns about potential side effects and a supply shortage at an India-based distributor.