North Korea has rejected around three million doses of a Chinese Covid-19 vaccine, suggesting they should be given to countries in greater need, AFP quotes Unicef as saying.

Pyongyang insists it has yet to see any cases of the virus — a claim that analysts doubt — but it has paid a huge economic price for the blockade, with the regime admitting in June it was tackling a “food crisis”.

North Korea's public health ministry “has communicated that the 2.97 million Sinovac doses being offered to DPR Korea by Covax may be relocated to severely affected countries in view of the limited global supply of Covid-19 vaccines and recurrent surge in some countries”, a Unicef spokesperson told AFP.

Pyongyang would “continue to communicate” with Covax “to receive Covid-19 vaccines in the coming months”, they added.