Amid supply challenges seen across the globe, COVID-19 vaccines developed by U.S. pharmaceutical company Novavax will enter consignment production in South Korea this month. 

The Ministry of Health and Welfare made the announcement during an emergency intergovernmental meeting on quarantine policies presided by President Moon Jae-in on Monday. 

The ministry said it projects vaccines to be produced by Novavax’s domestic partner SK Bioscience will be rolled out starting as early as June, with stable supplies to follow thereafter to the South Korean public. 

South Korea has signed a deal to bring in enough Novavax vaccines for 20 million people - with about half of that expected to be produced domestically by the third quarter. The ministry explained there was initially an issue with securing needed raw materials for production but that the issue has been mostly settled. 

South Korea has secured sufficient COVID-19 vaccines to inoculate 79 million people, with around three-point-37 million doses of that having arrived in the nation so far, including those developed by AstraZeneca and Pfizer.