S.Korea eyes mid-May arrival of coronavirus vaccines as stocks run low

South Korean Olympic judo team member An Ba-ul receives the first dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 coronavirus vaccine during a vaccination program for the country's Tokyo 2020 Olympics and Paralympics team at the National Medical Center in Seoul on April 29, 2021. - AFP

SEOUL (Reuters): South Korean officials fuelled hope on Monday (May 3) for the arrival of 7 million doses of coronavirus vaccine by mid-May to prop up an inoculation campaign that is flagging as supplies dwindle, hit by shipment delays.

Nearly 3.4 million of the population of 52 million had received their first dose by Sunday in the campaign begun in February, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said.