Last year North Korea rejected planned shipments of AstraZeneca’s Covid-19 vaccine that were being organised under the Covax Facility due to concerns over side effects, a South Korean think tank said at the time.

Why did North Korea reject 3 million Sinovac vaccine doses?

Authorities in Pyongyang appeared to be suspicious of receiving just a partial amount of vaccines and then to be under pressure to accept more, something that could be resolved by reaching a deal to provide enough doses for the whole country, Ojea Quintana said.

The UN investigator said he had raised the prospect of providing 60 million vaccines to North Korea during meetings with international diplomats in Seoul, but that such a proposal had yet to be formally made to Pyongyang and a number of issues would need to be worked out, including payments and any sanctions hurdles.

“The most serious situation in North Korea is food,” Ojea Quintana said, adding that some of the most vulnerable populations appear at risk of starvation.

Even if North Korea’s government sees a legitimate public health reason for maintaining the restrictions, it has an obligation to balance that with people’s need for food, which is linked to their freedom of movement, he said.

North Korea’s pandemic isolation fuels humanitarian disaster fears

The border and movement restrictions have been particularly damaging for North Koreans relying on commercial activities along the border with China, and that has been compounded by the impact of sanctions, Ojea Quintana added.

Thailand eases entry rules to lure back tourists

Vaccinated visitors to the Southeast Asian nation won’t be required to undergo a mandatory polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test on the fifth day of the arrival starting from March 1. Instead, they can do a self antigen test, scrapping the requirement to have a confirmed hotel reservation for the test.

The Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration, Thailand’s main virus task force chaired by Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha, also lowered the minimum medical insurance coverage for visitors to US$20,000 from US$50,000.

Thailand is making it easier for travellers to its famed beaches, Buddhist temples and national parks after nearly two years of tight border curbs decimated its tourism industry. While the nation is battling a spike in Omicron-led Covid cases, a low mortality rate compared to the peak Delta wave means health care facilities can cope up with the outbreak, Taweesilp Visanuyothin, a spokesman for the task force, said at a briefing on Wednesday.

Thailand saw its Covid-19 cases jump to 21,232 on Wednesday, a six-month high, but the deaths stood at 39, compared with more than 300 a day during the peak of the Delta wave in August.

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Tourism-reliant Thailand has been experimenting with several plans in recent month to try to revive the travel sector that used to contribute to about one-fifth of its economy, with 40 million foreign tourists generating more than US$60 billion in 2019.

The country has cleared about 302,000 visitors under its so-called “Test & Go” programme since it was reopened for a second time on February 1, according to Taweesilp. Bangkok, the nation’s capital city, eastern province Chonburi and resort island Phuket received the most travellers under the plan, he said.

Cambodia rolls out Sinovac jabs for ages 3-4

Prime Minister Hun Sen appealed for parents to get their children vaccinated as soon as they can and said five of his 21 grandchildren and one of his daughters have tested positive for the Omicron variant of the coronavirus.

“To overcome Covid-19 depends not just on the government or the Health Ministry, but needs the participation of all the people,” Hun Sen said at a groundbreaking ceremony for a waste water treatment facility on the outskirts of the capital Phnom Penh.

He had endorsed the vaccination plan for the younger children last week after health officials found at least 25 per cent of newly reported infections involved children under five.

After vaccinating adults and older children, Cambodia approved shots for ages 6-11 in September last year as part of reopening its schools. In November, vaccinations for five-year-olds were approved.

More than 80 per cent of Cambodia’s almost 17 million people have received at least two shots. China’s Sinovac and Sinopharm vaccines account for most inoculations.

Sinovac says three shots of its Covid-19 vaccine can fight Omicron

A recent sharp rise in the number of cases had driven some residents in Phnom Penh to stock antiviral medication to treat their illness or prepare for the possibility of catching the virus.

They have been purchasing Molnupiravir – a pill developed by the pharmaceutical company Merck – which was authorised by the Health Ministry last November for home-based treatment of mild to moderate cases. Cambodia has bought 4 million pills, suitable for treating 10,000 people.

Cambodia’s Health Ministry on Wednesday reported 558 new Covid-19 cases and one related death, bringing the nation’s totals since the pandemic began to 128,133 cases and 3,023 deaths.

South Korea approves Pfizer shot for ages 5-11

Serious cases and deaths are at manageable levels despite record cases caused by Omicron, Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum said.

His comments came as health officials approved Pfizer’s Covid-19 vaccine for children aged five to 11, expanding the country’s immunisation programme as the Omicron-driven outbreak drives up hospitalisations and deaths.

The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency reported a record 171,452 new virus cases on Wednesday, nearly a 40-fold increase from levels in mid-January when Omicron first emerged as the country’s dominant strain. The 99 new deaths were the highest daily tally since December 31, when the country was grappling with a Delta-driven surge that buckled hospital systems.

More than 500 virus patients were now in serious or critical condition, up from around 200 in mid-February.

In a long-awaited announcement, the Ministry of Drug and Food Safety said it approved the Pfizer vaccine as the country’s first shot to be used for children aged five to 11. The KDCA did not immediately say when vaccinations for this age group would begin.

Singapore calms fears over Covid-19 mRNA jabs for young children

The Pfizer shot is already used for children aged five to 11 in more than 60 countries, including the United States and in the European Union, the MDFS said in a press release. The vaccine will help protect younger children from infections or serious illness amid South Korea’s fast-developing Omicron surge, it added.

Teenagers and younger children have been linked to a rising number of infections in recent weeks, according to KDCA data, a worrisome development as schools prepare for new semesters in March.

The country had earlier approved vaccinations for people 12 years and older. As of Wednesday, 86.4 per cent of South Korea’s more than 51 million people have been vaccinated and nearly 60 per cent have received booster shots.

Reporting by Reuters, Bloomberg, Associated Press