As nations race to get their hands on the COVID-19 vaccine, North Korea has also sought to get its hands on the vaccine by submitting an application to the main global alliance which helps low-income countries obtain the vaccine.
According to a person familiar with the matter, the hermit kingdom reached out to the international vaccine alliance, Gavi, for aid in obtaining the COVID-19 vaccine.
Meanwhile, the alliance refused to give a comment on the North's application. However, a spokesperson for Gavi said that the group is currently looking into the applications and are assessing the demands of the economies of the countries that sought their help.
The alliance stated that they are expecting to give n update on the applications early this year, The Wall Street Journal.
It can be noted that in the recent weeks, aside from Gavi, Pyongyang has also reached out to different embassies in Europe on how they could possibly get their hands on vaccines against COVID-19.
On the other hand, Gavi has stated that in the last month, 86 out of 92 lower-income countries has written detailed requests for vaccines from them. The said countries and economies are those who were listed as eligible for the Covax Advance Market Commitment program.
The Covax Advance Market Commitment is a program which aims to distribute vaccines equitably to everyone including those in countries whose economies are in the low-income group, The Korean Herald reported.
For the low-income countries and economies belonging to the said group, including North Korea, Covax stated that they are targeting the coverage of at least 20% of the population before 2021 ends. Covax also stated that they already have at least 1.3 billion doses secured, all of which were funded by donations.
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North Korea Claims It Remains COVID-free
While man nations have struggled to keep COVID-19 out of their borders, the hermit kingdom has not reported at least one case of the illness. Despite this, the nation's great leader, has made the fight against COVID-19 a battle for national survival.
In their fight against COVID-19, North Korea has completely sealed off its borders and has suspended foreign travel. The alerts have also been placed on maximum level following the spread of a new variant of the virus in other countries, Reuters reported.
As of December 17, almost 12,000 people have been tested for COVID-19 in the North.
While the regime claims that there has been zero cases of the virus in the country, foreign officials and health experts have expressed their skepticism since there are tens of thousands of North Koreans who were quarantined.
Having no COVID-19 cases has been a point of national pride for Pyongyang, as well as a sensitive issue. Early in December, Kim Jong Un's sister, Kim Yo Jong has called out the foreign minister for South Korea, after the latter said that it was "hard to believe" that the rogue nation has not recorded a single case of the virus.
Meanwhile, the North insisted that its efforts against the pandemic, requiring all citizens to wear face masks and banning smoking in places which have been viewed as high risk for COVID-19 contract, helped in keeping their nation COVID-free.
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