<Anchor> This is a
friendly economic time. Today (11th) will be with reporter Kim Hye-min. Reporter Kim, you were away for a while last Friday. They said it was because of the second dose of the vaccine. How are you?
<Reporter>
I got the second dose last Thursday, and I got sick a little bit like a body aches. However, after completing the vaccination, my anxious mind was relieved a bit.
Young people like me are now completing vaccinations one after another. The number of people who completed the vaccination also exceeded 30 million, which is close to 60% of the total population of Korea.
If the current trend continues, by the end of this month, it is expected to achieve 70% of the inoculation completion rate, which is the standard for 'With Corona' conversion.
In Korea, preparations for the transition to Corona are progressing steadily, but not all overseas countries are like that.
Vaccination rates vary as much as the gap between the rich and poor between countries. The UN Secretary-General said, "We passed the science test, but we got an F grade in ethics."
This means that the development of a vaccine has been successful, but it has failed to distribute the vaccine equitably.
Can we afford to worry about other countries as well? You may be thinking, but 'vaccine inequality' goes beyond ethical issues and has a negative impact on the global economy.
<Anchor>
In this way, the vaccination rate has a huge impact on the economy. It's like this. Then, from a global perspective, economic recovery will slow down if global vaccination rates do not improve together. Can I understand this story?
<Reporter>
Yes. The head of the IMF recently gave an impressive talk at a university lecture, "I am walking forward about the global economy, and there are stones in my shoes." He said:
If there are stones in your shoes, your feet will hurt and you will not be able to walk quickly. There are stones that are slowing the global economic recovery, and the head of the IMF pointed out that these stones are inflation, debt, and vaccine inequality between countries.
The global economy works like a cogwheel, meaning that if the economy does not recover due to low vaccination rates in certain countries, other countries connected by trade with this country will also suffer economically.
To date, 46.5% of the world's population has been vaccinated at least once, but coverage in low-income countries is only 2.5%.
Failure to close this vaccine gap is estimated to cost global GDP $5.3 trillion over the next five years.
<Anchor>
The vaccination rate in low-income countries is 2.5%. Hearing these numbers, I think the difference is really too big. But moderna is there. Korea's supply has also suffered a bit of a setback. However, this moderna is making money by selling vaccines only in developed countries. that you are being criticized like this.
<Reporter>
Moderna will not be able to deliver the quantity promised to Korea a few months ago. I've been notified like this before.
But this isn't just for Korea. Thailand and Colombia also have delayed supply of Moderna, and Tunisia is said to have no contact with Moderna at all.
On the other hand, developed countries are ramping up vaccine sales, and none of the 23 countries Moderna recently announced a vaccine purchase agreement with had a single low-income country.
Also, the amount of vaccines provided to low-income countries was very small. Pfizer supplied 8.4 million servings, while Johnson & Johnson supplied 25 million servings to low-income countries, while Moderna provided far less than 900,000 servings.
Vaccines were also sold cheaper to developed countries. In the United States, you had to pay at least $15 for a single dose, but in Thailand and Colombia you had to pay up to $30, or twice as much.
<Anchor>
i See.
Now let's go back to our story.
In Korea, the supply and demand of vaccines was a little crooked at one time, but now it is smooth and the vaccination rate is increasing.
And there are reports that there are vaccines remaining.
Since our country is in a similar situation, is there any way to participate in the vaccine imbalance?
It's a bit early, what do you think?
<Reporter>
Now, if you look at Naver and Kakao, there are a lot of places with residual vaccines.
Also, starting today, you can get the same day vaccination at the hospital even if you don't make a reservation in advance.
Korea has also passed the stage of worrying about securing vaccine supplies, and it is in a situation where it can help low-income countries with spare quantities. President Moon Jae-in also emphasized fair distribution of vaccines at the UN General Assembly last month.
In addition, at the summit meeting with the Vietnamese president, more than 1 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines will be provided.
I made this promise.
We are currently negotiating with Vietnam.
It is also said that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is identifying the demand for other countries that need vaccines.
The UN secretary-general appealed for vaccine inequality, saying, "It is not only immoral, but also foolishness," saying, "It can ruin the efforts of developed countries that have been vaccinated two or three times."