Pfizer to submit application for COVID-19 vaccine approval by end-Jan.

A local office of global pharmaceutical company Pfizer Inc. is expected to submit an application for the approval of its COVID-19 vaccine to South Korea’s drug safety agency, industry sources said Thursday.

The company is planning to submit the application to the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety before the end of this month, they said. Approval would mark the country’s first batch of vaccines as part of a procurement program.

Earlier, the government signed a COVID-19 vaccine procurement contract with Pfizer for 10 million people.

About 50,000 doses are highly likely to be part of the first batch, which is to be provided through the World Health Organization’s global vaccine project, known as COVAX, starting next month.

President Moon Jae-in also said that the government will provide all South Korean people with free-of-charge COVID-19 vaccines in phases.