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News analysis: Coronavirus: The road to herd immunity
Deals with US a step forward for S. Korea's vaccine hub ambitions
But nation still faces falling vaccine supplies, low inoculation rates amid global shortage
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Staff working on a Covid-19 testing kit in Gunpo, South Korea, earlier this month. Dr Jerome Kim, director-general of the Seoul-based International Vaccine Institute, said more opportunities could come for South Korea if the two other firms making mRNA vaccines - Pfizer and CureVac - decided to follow in the footsteps of Moderna, which has a "fill and finish" production deal with Samsung Biologics.
PHOTO: BLOOMBERG
South Korea and the United States signed deals on vaccine partnership when President Moon Jae-in met his US counterpart Joe Biden in Washington last week, paving the way for Seoul's ambition to become a global vaccine hub.
Experts noted, however, that South Korea still faced the fundamental problem of shrinking vaccine supplies in the country due to a global shortage.
