North Korea has imposed strict border measures since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic that have decimated its already struggling economy. However, despite signs in November that the country was preparing for when the border does reopen, the DPRK remains essentially sealed off from the outside world.

COVAX allocated 4.73 million more AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines to North Korea, bringing the country’s total pledged doses to a total of around 6.83 million. But the DPRK is yet to start a vaccination program, and even if it uses all of those vaccines, it will only be able to inoculate a