North Korea has reportedly requested COVID-19 vaccines from the World Health Organization's(WHO) project guaranteeing equitable access, but is reluctant to allow international monitoring of vaccinations.

Citing various diplomatic sources on Wednesday, Japan's Kyodo News said Pyongyang has yet to submit details of its vaccination plan to the WHO's COVAX, despite its request for monitoring.

A source said the North is likely stalling with the hopes that COVAX will decide to supply the vaccines regardless.

COVAX had initially planned to deliver one-point-seven million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine to the North by the end of May, but has since postponed the delivery until the second half of this year.

While the North claims it has not had any COVID-19 cases since the start of the global pandemic early last year, Kyodo speculated that the regime is attempting to block the virus' entry into the capital Pyongyang through lockdowns.