By Sangmi Cha
SEOUL, Jul 27 (Reuters) – Moderna has postponed its vaccine delivery program for South Korea to the end of July until August due to supply problems that will affect other countries awaiting their vaccines, South Korean health authorities reported Tuesday. .
The supply problem is related to the vaccine manufacturing process, involving the Swiss contract drug manufacturer Lonza and the Spanish company Rovi, which handles the bottling of the Moderna vaccine, said Jung Eun-young, chief of the vaccine procurement team.
“This means that the problem related to production does not only affect South Korea. Rather it is a common problem for countries that receive the volume from the manufacturing site,” Jung said during a press conference.
He did not name the Spanish company, but contract drug maker Rovi bottles, or “refills and finishes,” Moderna vaccines for markets other than the United States.
South Korean authorities said that Moderna’s vaccines due to arrive in August were still on schedule, adding that a detailed delivery plan would be made public once finalized.
(Information from Sangmi Cha; additional information from Inti Landauro in Madrid, Brenna Hughes Neghaiwi in Zurich; edited by Miyoung Kim, Lincoln Feast and Joe Bavier; translated by Flora Gómez in the Gdansk newsroom)