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| Jerome Kim, director general of the International Vaccine Institute, gives a lecture on COVID-19 (SARS-CoV-2) and influenza at the Moroccan ambassador to Korea's residence in Yongsan-gu, Seoul, Tuesday. Courtesy of Corea Image Communication Institute |
By Dong Sun-hwa
Vaccine expert Jerome Kim has highlighted the importance of providing "equal access" to COVID-19 vaccines amid media reports that some countries may start vaccinations as early as next month.
"For COVID-19, we have three vaccines that show efficacy and safety," Kim, director general of the Seoul-based International Vaccine Institute (IVI), said at the Korea CQ Forum hosted by the Corea Image Communication Institute (CICI), Tuesday. "Coming weeks will likely bring more, but 8.8 billion doses are reserved, mainly by high-income countries.
"Modeling suggests that use of the first 2 billion doses by high-income countries without some equity will double global deaths."
Kim spoke about the issue in front of foreign ambassadors to Korea, including Kuwaiti Ambassador Bader Mohammad Al-Awadi and Egyptian Ambassador Hazem Fahmy, at the residence of the Moroccan ambassador in Yongsan-gu, Seoul.
Kim, who has led the IVI since 2015, is an expert on the evaluation and development of vaccines. His research interests include HIV molecular epidemiology, host genetics and HIV vaccine development.
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| Moroccan Ambassador to Korea Chafik Rachadi speaks during CICI's Korea CQ Forum at his residence, Tuesday. Courtesy of CICI |
Before Kim's talk, Moroccan Ambassador to Korea Chafik Rachadi delivered a brief lecture on how his country has been coping with the pandemic and cooperating with Korea to combat it.
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| Back row, from left, Park Youn-jung, CEO of Mint Tour; Kim Youn-young, President of Woonsan; Emily Cho, Chief Marketing Officer of Hanjin KAL; Erwan Vilfeu, President of Zuellig Pharma Korea; and Didier Beltoise, President of Cs. Third row, from left, Kim Myung-ja, President of Bow Industrial Company; Kane Yang, Chairman of VI Investment Corporation; Hazem Fahmy, Egyptian Ambassador; Dong Sun-hwa, Korea Times journalist; Daniel Mayran, Chairman of Bluebell Korea. Second row, from left, James Park, Director of BIO Plastic Surgery; Joshi Venugopal, President of Novartis Korea; Kim A-rin, Korea Herald journalist; Jackie Son, Mobility Manager at Crown Worldwide; Park So-yoon, Representing Researcher of Lemonade & Co.; and Na Eun-gyung, President of NAS Communication. First row, from left, Bader Mohammad Al-Awadi, Kuwaiti Ambassador; Leila Rachadi, spouse of the Moroccan Ambassador; Kim So-youn, CEO of PCL; Chafik Rachadi, Moroccan Ambassador; Jerome Kim, Director-General of IVI; Choi Jung-wha, President of CICI; and Ryu Kwon-ha, CEO of the Korea Joongang Daily. Courtesy of CICI |
