정부, 얀센•화이자와 코로나 백신 계약 체결

We start with the big vaccine news of the day.
The South Korean government says it has signed contracts with Pfizer and Janssen, which will provide enough COVID-19 vaccines for 16 million people in South Korea.
Hong Yoo reports.
South Korea has inked contracts to purchase COVID-19 vaccines from global pharmaceutical companies Pfizer and Janssen.
Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun announced Thursday that with Janssen, they were able to acquire more vaccines than in the previous negotiations.
The contract with Janssen, a subsidiary of Johnson and Johnson, will provide enough vaccines for 6 million people from the second quarter of next year.
That's two million people more than previously agreed.
The Prime Minister said that the government has also acquired enough vaccines for 10 million people from Pfizer.
These vaccines are scheduled to arrive in Korea in the third quarter, but the government says it is looking for ways to speed up the process.
"We are doing everything we can at a national level and are separately carrying out detailed negotiations to bring forward the introduction period of the vaccine to within the second quarter."
The government promised to take a closer look at the inoculation programs already underway in countries like the UK and U.S. to see if they are safe and effective, so that Koreans can safely and rapidly get immunized.
South Korea has also signed a vaccine purchase deal with AstraZeneca to bring in 10 million doses and is looking to sign another deal with Moderna.
With the holiday season to begin, the Prime Minister asked the people to participate in the stronger social distancing measures for 11 days starting from Thursday.
Hong Yoo, Arirang News.