1,012,800 Janssen vaccines for the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19) from Johnson & Johnson, provided by the US government, arrived in Korea on the 5th.



The Air Force's multi-purpose aerial refueling transport aircraft 'KC-330' loaded with Janssen vaccine landed at Seoul Airport in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province, at around 0:40 that day.



It has been 12 hours and 40 minutes since it took off from the California Air Force Base at 12 noon the previous day (8 pm local time).



At the site of the Janssen vaccine arrival, South Korea's Vice Minister of Defense Park Jae-min, Foreign Ministry's Economic and Diplomatic Coordinator Lee Seong-ho, and Ministry of Health and Welfare's Health and Medical Policy Director Lee Ki-il were in attendance.



After the Janssen vaccine goes through unloading work and customs inspection, it is loaded into two transport vehicles and transported to logistics centers in Icheon and Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province.



Afterwards, the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety's own quality inspection and domestic delivery procedures will be followed before inoculation at consigned medical institutions nationwide from the 10th to the 20th.



The Janssen vaccine was approved for emergency use in Korea on the 3rd.



The amount of Janssen vaccine that arrived this time is almost double the 550,000 doses promised by US President Joe Biden at the Korea-US summit held at the White House in Washington DC on the 21st of last month.



In this regard, the government evaluates that "This is a fairly unusual decision from an international point of view, and the United States has recognized the value of the ROK-U.S. alliance and has taken special consideration for Korea."



The Janssen vaccination target is 892,393 people (as of 00:00 on the 4th) who have made a reservation in advance out of 3.7 million people in reservists, civil defense and defense/diplomatic personnel aged 30 to 60 years.



The Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) closed advance reservations on the 1st, leaving 120,000 out of a total of 1,012,800 people in reserve within 18 hours of starting the reservation.



The government plans to use part of the Janssen vaccine leftovers to inoculate people who are leaving the country urgently for the purpose of essential activities, such as official duties and economic activities, and residents in some island areas where there is no doctor.



The Janssen vaccine is the fourth product to enter Korea after AstraZeneca (AZ), Pfizer and Moderna.



Unlike other products that require two inoculations, the Janssen vaccine, which is a 'viral vector' series, requires only one vaccination to complete the vaccination.



The government has secured a total of 193 million doses (100 million people) of COVID-19 vaccines in five types: AstraZeneca, Pfizer, Moderna, Janssen, and Novavax.



Among them, the schedule for introducing the Novavax vaccine has not yet been confirmed.



(Yonhap News/Photo = US State Department Spokesperson Ned Price Twitter capture, Yonhap News)