South Korea to get 700,000 COVID shots from Israel as cases surge

Under the vaccine swap arrangement, South Korea will give Israel back the same number of shots later in the year.

South Korea has said it will receive 700,000 doses of Pfizer-BioNTech’s coronavirus vaccine from Israel on loan this week, in a bid to speed up immunisation amid a surge in infections around the capital, Seoul. More than 1,000 cases were reported on Tuesday, the highest number since December and hundreds more than the 746 cases posted on Monday, Yonhap news agency reported, citing South Korean government health officials. Under the vaccine swap arrangement announced by both governments on Tuesday, South Korea will give Israel back the same number of shots, already on order from Pfizer, in September and October.