North Korea said it doesn't need China's Sinovac vaccine, and instead asked for them to be given to other nations that have been badly affected by COVID-19, UNICEF said Wednesday, according to reports.
A United Nations representative said North Korea had asked that the 3 million Sinovac doses be redirected to severely hit countries in view of the worldwide of vaccines.
So far, the reclusive North Korea has not reported any cases of the virus and has enforced strict pandemic protocols, including border shutdowns and local travel restrictions.
North Korea was one of the first nations to shut its borders in January last year.
In its most recent report to the World Health Organization, North Korea disclosed that it had tested 37,290 people for COVID-19 as of August 20 and all results turned out negative.
The Chinese-produced Sinovac jabs have been offered under the COVAX programme whose main objective is to help poorer countries obtain vaccines.
A representative for the UN body said the ministry will continue to keep its communication lines open with COVAX to receive vaccines in the coming months.
Earlier this year, COVAX had planned to distribute almost 2 million shots of the AstraZeneca vaccine to North Korea. However, the shipment was declined in July because of concerns over reports of rare but serious blood clots among patients who have been given the vaccine, Reuters said.
North Korea is also dubious of the effectiveness and safety of Chinese-developed COVID-19 treatments, the Institute for National Security Strategy told Yonhap News.
A South Korean think tank said the North prefers Russia's Sputnik V vaccine but wants it to be distributed for free. Sergey Lavrov, Russia's foreign minister, said in July the country had offered to supply North Korea with its homegrown Sputnik V vaccine on multiple occasions.
Several nations like Uruguay and Thailand have started using other vaccines for those who were administered with the Sinovac jab as their first dose in an attempt to boost protection.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un blasted his officials in June for their "chronic irresponsibility and incompetence" in handling the crisis, signaling that the pandemic may have spread in the country.
