The U.S. government on Friday said 1 million doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine are en route to South Korea after President Biden pledged to help President Moon Jae-in protect his country against COVID-19 during a recent White House visit.
State Department spokesman Ned Price posted photos of the vaccines being loaded onto planes. The cargo is marked with the American flag and a message reading, “Temperature sensitive product.”
“With these doses, we’re ensuring the safety and readiness of [South Korean] and U.S. forces. The friendship between our two countries runs deep, especially in times of great need,” Mr. Price tweeted.
The shipment is arriving two weeks after Mr. Biden pledged the doses to Mr. Moon during a White House summit.
The Biden administration said it makes sense to protect over a half-million South Korean troops who work alongside the roughly 28,000 American troops stationed in the Asian nation.
Top officials in Seoul told Reuters that reserve forces, the civil defense corps and persons on overseas business or diplomatic missions also would be vaccinated from the U.S. allotment.
“The Korea situation is unique. As the president said when President Moon visited, the animating purpose behind that is actually about the protection of American forces and the forces who serve alongside American forces: the Korean troops who are standing shoulder to shoulder with us in that country,” National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said Thursday.
The Johnson & Johnson vaccine requires a single dose, so a person is considered fully vaccinated 14 days after receiving the shot.
The coronavirus hit South Korea before most countries in early 2020, though a national testing program was relatively successful in slowing early transmission.
The country’s death rate from COVID-19 is 3.9 per 100,000 people, compared to 182 per 100,000 in the U.S., according to Johns Hopkins University. Mr. Moon had to look abroad for vaccines, however, due to the lack of domestic production. Roughly 4.5% of the country is fully vaccinated, vs. 41% in the U.S.
Mr. Biden pledged vaccines for troops during Mr. Moon’s May 21 visit and said the two countries’ pharmaceutical sectors would work together to spur production inside South Korea.
• Tom Howell Jr. can be reached at thowell@washingtontimes.com.
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