SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — North Korea will begin vaccinating its people against Covid-19 around November, state media said Friday, about a month after the country declared victory over the virus.

It is the first time the isolated regime officially announced its plans for vaccination since the start of the pandemic.

Health experts in the country believe North Koreans' antibody levels — acquired during the epidemic which the regime confirmed in May — will decrease by October, Kim added.

Friday's KCNA report did not elaborate on where the vaccines were from.

The regime last year rejected planned shipments of AstraZeneca's Covid vaccines, arranged by the World Health Organization's COVAX scheme, due to concerns over side effects, according to a South Korean think tank.

The impoverished nation, which has maintained a rigid blockade since the start of the pandemic, confirmed an outbreak of the Omicron variant in the capital Pyongyang about four months ago.