Kim Jong-un spoke out after rejecting donation of over 3 million COVID-19 vaccines: “We will fight the pandemic our way”

North Korean dictator Kim Jong-Un has ordered authorities to carry out a stronger epidemic prevention campaign. “We will fight the pandemic in our own way,” he said after rejecting a contingent of more than 3 million foreign COVID-19 vaccines. offered as part of a United Nations-supported immunization program.

At a Politburo meeting, Kim said officials should “keep in mind that strengthening epidemic prevention is a very important task that should not be toned down for a moment,” the agency reported on Friday. Korean Central Press.

In addition to stressing the need for material and technical means to prevent the arrival of the virus, and to increase the qualification of health workers, Kim asked “to continue to complete the epidemic prevention system”, but insisted: “We will do it in our style.”

UNICEF, the United Nations agency that purchases and distributes vaccines on behalf of the COVAX program, has revealed that North Korea has rejected a batch of around three million doses of China’s Sinovac vaccine.

In addition, he added that the country was to receive a batch of vaccines from AstraZeneca-Oxford University as part of the initiative, but their delivery is also being delayed by North Korean obstacles.

Some experts believe Kim’s diet may want vaccines other than those offered by UNICEF, as it questioned the effectiveness of the Chinese drug months ago and the unusual clots detected in some who received the drug. AstraZeneca.

However, North Korea does not have a sufficient cold chain to store Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, other inoculants approved by the WHO. It could receive Sputnik V, but Russia, bilaterally, has repeatedly offered batches of its own vaccines to Pyongyang, without there being for the moment proof that the latter country has accepted them.

This week, moreover, The dictator reiterated to North Koreans that they must prepare for prolonged restrictions against COVID-19, saying the borders could remain closed despite deteriorating economic and food conditions.

The impoverished country was the first to impose a strict blockade when it sealed its border in January last year to prevent the spread of the coronavirus from China, where it first appeared before spreading in the world.

Pyongyang insists it has yet to see any cases of the coronavirus, a claim analysts are questioning.

These measures would also exacerbate the humanitarian crisis in North Korea. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) warned in June of a worse-than-expected harvest season which, together with reduced imports, generates a national food deficit of 860,000 tonnes, which is equivalent to 2, 3 months of food. .

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