Satire Vaccines Are Not Effective Medicines To Overcome COVID-19, North Korea Calls Pandemic Can Be Prolonged

Ilustrasi vaksin COVID-19. (Wikimedia Commons / Ministry of Defense of Peru)

JAKARTA - North Korean state media have warned of the potential for a long battle against the coronavirus, and have said a vaccine developed by a global drug maker has proven not to be a universal panacea.

This assessment was issued, amidst the absence of a single positive case of COVID-19 in North Korea. The South Korean authorities assessed that the COVID-19 case there cannot be ruled out and must be watched out for.

This is given the close relationship between North Korea and China, especially trade relations, as well as the flow of human traffic between the two countries, prior to the enactment of the border closure early last year.

Rodong Sinmun, the official newspaper of the ruling Labor Party, said the pandemic was only getting worse, it was prolonged even though a vaccine had been developed.

The new coronavirus vaccine, which was introduced competitively by various countries, was once considered a ray of hope for mankind to end the war against this dreaded disease.

"But the situation in many countries clearly proves that vaccines are never a universal panacea," wrote Rodong Sinmun, citing news reports about the increasing number of new cases abroad and safety concerns.

The report urges people to prepare for a prolonged COVID-19 pandemic, describes it as an inevitable reality, calls for efforts to strengthen anti-virus measures and cultivate loyalty to leader Kim Jong Un and his party.

North Korea is set to receive nearly two million doses of AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine in the first half of this year, through the COVAX sharing program.

But World Health Organization (WHO) representative for North Korea Edwin Salvador last month said deliveries were delayed due to supply shortages, citing the GAVI alliance, according to South Korean media.

In comments to Reuters, Salvador said North Korea was finalizing the technical requirements needed to receive a vaccine, but did not specify any further. The GAVI Alliance, which leads COVAX with WHO, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.