COVID-19

France and Korea look forward a vaccine against coronavirus

French President Emmanuel Macron announced on November 24 a vaccine to prevent Covid-19 could start being administered (but not compulsory) as soon as the end of the year in France if approved by regulators. A scientific committee would be established to monitor vaccinations and a group of citizens would also take part to ensure transparency. Although there is no internationally approved vaccine yet, the European Union has so far secured deals with Sanofi and GlaxoSmithKline, Johnson & Johnson , AstraZeneca, CureVac, Pfizer and BioNTech as well as Moderna. 

On the other hand, Korea aims to start vaccinating the general public from the second half of next year, health authorities announced on November 10. The Korean government is pursuing a two-track approach to secure vaccines – through the COVID-19 Vaccines Global Access Facility (COVAX), a global initiative aimed at developing, manufacturing and deploying coronavirus vaccines, as well as through independent deals with global vaccine manufacturers.

Recently, Sanofi and GSK said they would provide 200 million doses of a Covid-19 vaccine, jointly developed by the two companies, for the COVID-19 Vaccines Global Access Facility (COVAX), after signing a MOU with the Global Alliance for Vaccine and Immunizations (GAVI) on October 28th. Thomas Triomphe, executive vice president of Sanofi Pasteur, said, “To address a global health crisis of this magnitude, it takes unique partnerships. The commitment we are announcing today for the COVAX Facility can help us together stand a better chance of bringing the pandemic under control.”