South Korea accelerates vaccine production to shore up defences against future pandemics
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Now, as part of a “mid-to-long-term” plan for tackling future pandemics, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) is developing a robust vaccination infrastructure that will allow the country to “respond more quickly” in designing and producing shots.
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“Although we succeeded in developing domestic vaccines and treatments, it was somewhat late compared to major overseas developing countries. Therefore, to prepare for the next pandemic, it is necessary to secure means to respond more quickly based on cutting-edge technologies such as mRNA.”
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The plan will focus on setting up a rapid development system for vaccines and treatments prior to pandemics by selecting priority infectious disease pathogens, such as respiratory and hemorrhagic fever viruses, and producing prototype vaccines.
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“The government has selected vaccines, along with semiconductors and batteries, as one of the three national strategic technologies,” he said at an August 2021 meeting of the “Global Vaccine Hub Preparatory Committee,” in the presence of top pharmaceutical executives.
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