Coronavirus: why did North Korea turn down 3 million Sinovac vaccine doses?

North Korea claims to be Covid-free and requested that the shots from the Covax Facility be redirected to countries experiencing surges

Kim Jong-un touted ‘our style’ of pandemic control, and analysts say safety and efficacy fears, showing self-isolation works and ‘saving face’ could explain the move

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North Korean leader Kim Jong-un speaks during a meeting of the political bureau of the 8th Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea in Pyongyang on September 2, calling for tougher coronavirus prevention measures. Photo: Reuters

Published: 3:15pm, 3 Sep 2021Updated: 10:22pm, 3 Sep 2021

For North Korea, the threat posed by Covid-19 could hardly be more stark. The impoverished country’s health care system is dilapidated and overstretched, while its 26 million people are especially vulnerable to disease due to chronic undernourishment that the UN estimates affects more than 40 per cent of the population.

Still, the isolated state ruled by Kim Jong-un, which claims to be Covid-free, has been loath to accept help from the outside world, repeatedly shunning offers of life-saving vaccines.

This week, Unicef said the North had requested that nearly 3 million doses of the Chinese-made Sinovac vaccine be redirected to other countries “in view of the limited global supply of Covid-19 vaccines and recurrent surge in some countries”.

The North’s Ministry of Public Health said it would continue to communicate with the Covax Facility, the international distribution scheme that allotted the jabs, about taking delivery of vaccines in the “coming months”, according to Unicef.

Pyongyang earlier refused offers of the AstraZeneca vaccine because of concerns over rare side-effects, a South Korean think-tank affiliated with Seoul’s spy agency revealed in July. And Russia’s foreign ministry said that same month that Moscow had repeatedly offered to supply its home-grown vaccines. Kim’s regime has yet to give any indication it has accepted its Cold War ally’s help.

North Korea sealed its borders in January 2020 and has not reported any cases of Covid-19, a record widely doubted by observers given the infectiousness of the coronavirus and the country’s vast land border with China.