South Korea plans to ship almost 1.6 million doses of AstraZeneca’s coronavirus vaccine to Vietnam and Thailand this week, the foreign ministry announced Tuesday, as the Southeast Asian nations struggle to contain the spread of the virus.
The donation comes as South Korea’s vaccination program has accelerated rapidly, with 70% of the population expected to be inoculated by the end of the month.
About 62% of South Korea’s total population has been fully vaccinated, according to the Ministry of Health and Welfare, and the nation is expected to ease the most severe restrictions by next month. Thailand has fully vaccinated 33% of its population and Vietnam about 17%.