SHENYANG, China -- North Korea has been vaccinating against COVID-19 since the end of August, The Yomiuri Shimbun has learned from a Chinese-North Korean trade official with close ties to Pyongyang bureaucrats.
Until then, the country reportedly believed only U.S.-made vaccines were trustworthy and thus refused Chinese vaccines allocated through the COVAX program, an international framework to facilitate access to COVID-19 tests and vaccines.
However, this policy changed following a renewed spread of infections in spring. Pyongyang is currently preparing for another wave of the novel coronavirus, in addition to the normalization of trade and the resumption of travel.
