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A production facility in Pune, India, that has been commissioned to manufacture vaccines for AstraZeneca. (Reuters/Yonhap News)

Addressing concerns about difficulties in securing supplies of the COVID-19 vaccine developed by the British pharmaceutical firm AstraZeneca, the South Korean government asserted that there will be “no issues.”

Speaking at a regular briefing on Dec. 9 at the Sejong Government Complex, Son Young-rae, director of strategy and planning at the Central Disaster Management Headquarters (CDMH), explained that the “plan for shipments arriving in South Korea from AstraZeneca is to prioritize circulation of the vaccines currently being produced in South Korea.”

The government has signed a purchase agreement to acquire 20 million doses of the COVID-19 co-developed by AstraZeneca and Oxford University — enough for 10 million people — by early next year. The amount accounts for roughly 23% of total vaccine purchases, enough doses for 44 million people.

But a day earlier, Britain’s Financial Times reported that distribution of the company’s vaccine would be delayed due to problems at a UK factory. Commenting on this, Son said, “We have not received any information regarding this from the pharmaceutical company at present.”

“But my understanding is that the reports in the foreign press concerned an overseas factory, not production sites in South Korea, so I do not believe there will be any major issues with our supplies for early winter,” he added.

AstraZeneca has commissioned domestic vaccine production to SK Bioscience, a unit of SK Chemicals. China, India, and other countries outside of Europe have also been tasked with vaccine production.

Amid major South Korea interest in the AstraZeneca vaccine, a paper analyzing its effectiveness was published in the global medical journal The Lancet. The 70% efficacy announced by AstraZeneca on Nov. 23 was verified by multiple researchers. The vaccine is also substantially effective in preventing asymptomatic infection.

Over 80 people contributed to the 13-page paper, including researchers at Oxford as well as those in Brazil, South Africa and the US. The paper stated that Phase 3 clinical trials for the vaccine showed it to be safe and effective.

At the same time, they also noted the need for future research on the differences in efficacy observed with different doses. The AstraZeneca vaccine is meant to be administered twice per person, but while 90% efficacy was seen when participants received a half dose during the first injection, that rate dropped to 62% among those who received the full dosage. Combining the two results gives a total efficacy of 70% for the AstraZeneca vaccine. Last month, AstraZeneca explained that the half-dose administration had been an error and announced plans to conduct additional research into it.

The Guardian reported that AstraZeneca was pursuing approval for its vaccine, but added that regulatory authorities in the UK, the EU, and the US may reach different conclusions based on their individual standards.

The AstraZeneca vaccine was also found to be effective in preventing asymptomatic infection — something that was not analyzed separately with the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines. According to the paper, 59% efficacy in asymptomatic infection prevention was observed when a half dose was administered, while 4% efficacy was seen with a full dose. Thus, the vaccine may prevent asymptomatic cases from unknowingly spreading infection.

By Choi Ha-yan and Choi Hyun-june, staff reporters

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