ED Toward vaccine power

More efforts needed to secure sufficient vaccines

President Moon Jae-in has vowed to invest 2.2 trillion won ($1.9 billion) to make Korea one of the world's top five virus vaccine manufacturing bases by 2025. Moon noted his administration will designate the development of anti-viral vaccines as one of the nation's three major strategic technology areas along with semiconductors and batteries.

During a meeting of government officials and medical experts at Cheong Wa Dae, Thursday, Moon said his administration will provide full support to nurture the vaccine industry as a new growth engine. He added that steps will focus on nurturing 12,000 people as human resources pertinent to vaccine development technology and production.

Moon's remarks can be taken to mean that his government will create a blueprint for the country's biotech firms to expand domestic vaccine production and speed up the development of their own vaccines. South Korean companies are currently manufacturing the Astra Zeneca and Sputnik V vaccines as outside contractors.

Many experts share the opinion that securing vaccine sovereignty will be more and more significant in determining a country's sustainability given the possibility of a growing number of contagious diseases in the 21st century. Against this backdrop, the Moon administration deserves acclaim for expressing a strong resolve to develop the nation's own vaccines.

The prospects for the early termination of COVID-19 have become slimmer due to the lingering fourth wave of the pandemic coupled with the outbreak of variants, prompting the need for the country to expand the infrastructure for the development and manufacture of its own vaccines. A global competition to stockpile vaccines will likely accelerate as an increasing number of advanced economies with higher inoculation rates, such as France and the United Kingdom, have begun to administer booster shots to their populations.

South Korea has been suffering difficulties as it failed to secure sufficient vaccines in due time, and so the importance of securing enough to be used next year cannot be overemphasized. Furthermore, the government should come up with concrete plans for the long-term investment into developing vaccines locally.

President Moon also said Korean companies will be able to produce locally-developed vaccines from the first half of next year. If this materializes, it will be good news for people suffering from the protracted COVID-19 pandemic. Major pharmaceutical companies Pfizer and Moderna began the production of the currently predominant mRNA-type vaccines some 20 years ago. The U.S. administration has offered more than 1 trillion won for continued research into Moderna vaccines.

It is important for the government to present a vision to make the country one of the global hubs for vaccine manufacturing. Yet, what is more urgent now is the need for it to secure sufficient vaccines. Since April, the government has failed to sign any contract to purchase additional vaccines. This compares with the United States and European Union which have already stockpiled vaccines for more than ten times their population. The government should put its first priority on purchasing sufficient vaccines for the Korean people.