ArticleJournal of Korean medical science2025
The Vaccine Cold Chain in North Korea: Assessing the Capacity to Store Routine Vaccines and Potential to Support Pandemic Vaccination Activities.
Article in Journal of Korean medical science, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.
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Who cites it
1 citing paper in PubMed.
- Consistency in North Korean Medical Academic Research Topics During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Text Mining Analysis.Journal of Korean medical science · 2026Article
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Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundThe health system's capacity to store vaccines in North Korea has been less studied. In this study, we aimed to investigate if the current vaccine cold chain in North Korea can store routine vaccines and if it has the storage capacity to handle pandemic vaccination activities (PVAs) without interrupting the country's successful routine immunization program.
methodsWe used tables extracted from an evaluation report of The Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization (GAVI)' Health Systems Strengthening program in North Korea from 2007 to 2014. We then used the World Health Organization's Immunization Supply Chain Sizing Tool to estimate gaps and the cost of scaling up cold chain storage.
resultsWe found that the vaccine cold chain in North Korea has adequate storage capacity for routine vaccines. While we found a deficit of 7,172 L at the central medical warehouse (CMW) and 14,256 L at the provincial medical warehouses (PMWs), the storage at the county warehouses (CoMW) had a surplus. When assessed for PVA, we found an aggregated deficit of 115,574 L (CMW), 113,160 L (PMW), and 25,133 L (CoMW). To fill the gaps, investments of 229,917 USD, and 2,262,211 USD were estimated for routine and PVA vaccination programs, respectively.
conclusionAs countries and the international community work to improve systems in preparation for future pandemics, there is a need to scale up the North Korean vaccine cold chain to a pandemic-ready state.
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