1. Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Lee Taeho participated in a virtual vice ministerial meeting regarding cooperation on COVID-19 vaccines among nine countries on the evening of September 21.

° The meeting was attended by vice minister-level officials of nine countries -- the Republic of Korea, the Kingdom of Sweden, Canada, the Republic of Costa Rica, the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, New Zealand, the Republic of South Africa, the Kingdom of Spain, and the Republic of Tunisia.

° The Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO) and the CEO of Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, also joined the meeting as guest speakers.

2. The virtual meeting was held mainly among the countries, the leaders of which, led by Sweden, had jointly contributed an opinion piece regarding cooperation on COVID-19 vaccines to The Washington Post of the United States on July 15. The participants exchanged views on ways to step up multilateral cooperation; appreciation of efforts led by the WHO and Gavi to launch mechanisms for global vaccine distribution, such as the Access to COVID-19 Tools Accelerator (ACT-A) and the COVID-19 Vaccine Global Access (COVAX) Facility; and ways to pursue collaboration among relevant countries in order to secure COVID-19 vaccines.

3. Vice Minister Lee mentioned that the development and deployment of safe and effective vaccines and therapeutics is essential for eradicating COVID-19, which has been spreading across borders. He suggested that, in the face of the intensifying competition among countries in securing vaccines, collaboration be continued through multilateral mechanisms, including the COVAX Facility, in order for all countries to have adequate and equitable access to vaccines regardless of their income levels.

° He also explained that the ROK government is making various efforts to secure vaccines, such as developing vaccines on its own, making advance purchases of vaccines from abroad, and taking part in COVAX activities (including supporting developing countries), in order to meet the demand for vaccines at home in line with its stance that “no one is safe until everyone is safe.”

° The Vice Minister also introduced the International Vaccine Institute (IVI), established in the ROK for the purpose of research and development as well as supply of vaccines to developing countries. He added that the ROK government, as its hosting country, is rendering support to the IVI for it to expand cooperation with other countries.

4. The participants recognized the importance of multilateral cooperation for overcoming COVID-19 and agreed to continue relevant cooperation and communication.