S. Korean troops assigned to US forces seek to get USFK's COVID-19 vaccine: Reports
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The South Korean Army troops assigned to the US Forces Korea (USFK) could get vaccinated against the coronavirus with the Moderna jab recently delivered to the US contingent if the country's Defense Ministry and the relevant authorities seal the deal, the Yonhap news agency reported on Saturday, adding that the authorities were still in talks.
The USFK on Friday received the first shipment of the COVID-19 vaccine developed by the Moderna biotechnology company. The FedEx cargo plane reportedly delivered 1,000 doses of the vaccine, which were transported to Allgood Army Community Hospital at Camp Humphreys in the US military headquarters 70 kilometers (43 miles) south of Seoul.
According to the media outlet, the 40 South Korean servicemen working with the USFK at the Allgood Hospital could be subject to the vaccination.
"But we have yet to receive a formal request (from the USFK) regarding the matter," the South Korean official said, as quoted by the news agency.
If the sides agree, the soldiers would be the first in the country to get vaccinated against COVID-19.
On Wednesday, Gen. Robert Abrams, the USFK commander, said that frontline health care workers and first responders would be first to receive COVID-19 shots.
Earlier in December, the US Food and Drug Administration’s Vaccine Advisory Committee recommended Moderna’s coronavirus vaccine candidate for emergency use authorization. The Moderna vaccine is the second coronavirus vaccine greenlighted by the advisory committee, after Pfizer and BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine.
