Pentagon offering J&J vaccinations to South Korean troops

The U.S. military is offering Johnson & Johnson coronavirus vaccines to South Korean troops as that country struggles with a vaccine shortage.

The Yonhap News Agency reports that U.S. Forces Korea (USFK) have already delivered 13,000 doses of the J&J vaccine.  

“We are discussing with the U.S. side diverse ways of cooperating on the issue,” a defense ministry official told YNA.

According to the outlet, the J&J vaccine doses will likely be administered to civilians and not service members if shipped. Service members who are in their 20s are expected to receive doses of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine beginning in June.

South Korean President Moon Jae-in said on Monday that he was aiming to cement a coronavirus vaccine partnership with the U.S. during his planned summit talks with President Biden later this week.

“I will use this visit to the U.S. as an opportunity to strengthen cooperation on vaccines and [for South Korea] to move toward the goal of becoming a global hub for vaccine production,” Moon told reporters.

Yonhap notes that Moon’s administration has a goal of immunizing 13 million people with coronavirus vaccines in order to achieve herd immunity by November of this year.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), South Korea has confirmed over 131,000 coronavirus cases and nearly 2,000 deaths. As of last week, over 3.7 million vaccine doses have been administered.