South Korea's health minister said the government had to accept drug companies' demand for exemption from liability claims as global demand far exceeds supply.

At a press briefing on the country's vaccine acquisition plan on Tuesday, Minister Park Neung-hoo said that while such demands are difficult to accept, the "unfair deals" are being signed globally as countries rush to secure the vaccines first.

Park then stressed that the government will conduct its own safety tests after the vaccines are brought in, and monitor post-vaccine cases in other countries.

The government announced it has secured enough commitments for COVID-19 vaccines to immunize up to 44 million people, enabling some 85 percent of the population to be inoculated.

The vaccines will come from AstraZeneca, Pfizer, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson's Janssen sufficient for 34 million people, and remaining doses for ten million will come from COVAX Facility, a World Health Organization mechanism designed to guarantee equitable access to vaccines.