N. Korea Rejects COVID Vaccines, Saying Hard-hit Nations Have Greater Need
Voice of America
WASHINGTON - North Korea has requested that 3 million doses of Chinese-made COVID-19 vaccine it was allocated be sent to countries with severe outbreaks, according to UNICEF.
“The DPRK Ministry of Public Health (MOPH) has communicated that the 2.97 million doses being offered to DPR Korea by COVAX may be relocated to severely affected countries in view of the limited global supply of COVID-19 vaccines and recurrent surge in some countries,” a UNICEF spokesperson said in an email to VOA’s Korean Service on Tuesday. COVID-19 Vaccine Global Access (COVAX) is an international vaccine distribution program targeting lower-income nations. UNICEF obtains and distributes the vaccines for the program. “MOPH has said it will continue to communicate with the COVAX facility to receive COVID-19 vaccines in the coming months,” the spokesperson told VOA.A TV screen shows a file image of North Korea's rocket launch during a news program at a bus terminal in Seoul, South Korea, May 27, 2024. FILE - Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi speaks to reporters in Colombo, July 29, 2023. FILE - A TV screen shows a report of North Korea's spy satellite into orbit with its third launch attempt this year with an image of North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un during a news program at the Seoul Railway Station in Seoul, South Korea, Nov. 22, 2023.
Palestinians gather at the site of an Israeli strike on a camp for internally displaced people in Rafah on May 27, 2024. Fire rages following an Israeli strike on an area designated for displaced Palestinians, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, in this still picture taken from a video, May 26, 2024. Palestinians gather at the site of an Israeli strike on a camp for internally displaced people in Rafah on May 27, 2024. A member of the bomb squad of the Israeli police collects debris after a rocket fired by Palestinian militants struck in the Israeli city of Herzliya on May 26, 2024.