While the global headquarters of Pfizer is giving its Covid-19 vaccine to its staff and their families for free, Pfizer Korea is rethinking whether to follow suit, industry sources said.

In Korea, public concerns are growing over the shortage of Covid-19 vaccines.

Industry watchers speculate that the Korean offshoot of Pfizer must be worrying that giving Pfizer vaccine priority to the company’s employees and their families could spark controversy over unfairness.

During the 2009 swine flu pandemic, when the supply of antiviral drug Tamiflu was tight, Roche Korea was under the prosecutors’ probe for giving Tamiflu to its employees and their families illegally.

Pfizer Korea may be taking a caution not to be involved in a similar situation, observers said.

Under Pfizer’s global program to provide its Covid-19 vaccine to workers and their families, the company’s units in Japan, Malaysia, and Singapore have reportedly offered vaccines to their employees and their families.

An official at Pfizer Korea said,” The company notified employees and executives to apply for Covid-19 vaccination for themselves and their families but suddenly canceled the plan.”

Then, the company said it would provide Prevnar 13, a pneumonia vaccine, to employees and families, he said.

Pfizer’s Covid-19 provision for employees and families was irrelevant to each country’s vaccination program. The costs are all covered by the company, news reports said.

TheJournal.ie, an Irish online media, said on April 21 that Pfizer would roll out its Covid-19 vaccine to 4,000 employees and their families in the company’s five Irish locations in the coming months in line with the Irish government’s age-based approach.

“The company said its decision would not affect the supplies set to be delivered by the manufacturer to the State’s vaccination program in the coming months,” the news report said. “All of the costs will be covered by Pfizer.”

Pfizer Korea said the company was internally discussing the Covid-19 vaccination for Korean staff but has yet to decide.

“The Prevnar 13/influenza vaccine support program is part of various benefits for staff and families offered by the global headquarters. It has nothing to do with the Covid-19 vaccination support program,” Pfizer Korea said.