<Anchor> As the



government said, if it is introduced steadily, the problem of vaccine supply and demand, which was a lot of concern, will ease the burden, but it will be important when the vaccine comes into our hands. It should also be noted that most of the additional volume will be introduced in the second half.



Next is reporter Park Soo-jin.



<Reporter>



Pfizer vaccine is the most in demand worldwide because of its low risk of side effects of blood clots from AstraZeneca and Janssen vaccines, as well as its ability to prevent and respond to mutant viruses.



Therefore, competition for securing is fierce in each country, and the supply and demand to the international community is not smooth due to the principle of the US's own country's priority supply.



In Korea, the existing contract volume is 13 million people, but only 870,000 Pfizer vaccines have been received so far.



Pfizer vaccines come in a fixed amount, once a week, but in large quantities as soon as possible to speed up vaccination.



If the supply is adequate, the achievement of the group immunity target for November is expected to be even closer.



In particular, the Pfizer vaccine is the only vaccine that can be vaccinated at the age of 16 and 17, and clinical trials are also being conducted for those under the age of 15, so it may be possible to vaccinate even under the age of 18 who are not currently included in the vaccination, depending on the results.



As the existing AstraZeneca vaccine will be supplied in earnest with Modena and NovaVax vaccines from July, the government expects to rapidly raise the vaccination rate, which is currently at 4.2% of the population.



[Kwon Deok-cheol/Minister of Health and Welfare: By the end of September (the secured vaccine), it is possible to immunize 44 million people over the age of 18 in Korea with about 100 million doses.]



Particularly, the third round of

vaccinations

promoted by the US and EU are

possible.

You can also prepare for inoculation, so-called'booster shot'.



In order to achieve the government's plan called collective immunity in November, it is of utmost importance to ensure that the contracted quantities are supplied on time and without disruption.



(Video coverage: Jung Seong-hwa, video editing: Kim Jong-tae)