TOKYO (Reuters) – The head of Japan’s vaccine program returned on Friday with the goal of ensuring sufficient supplies of COVID-19 vaccines by June, a month before the planned start of the Tokyo Olympics.
Taro Kono, the newly installed head of Japan’s vaccination push, told reporters that “old information” was behind a spokesman’s comments on Thursday that the government hopes to have enough vaccines for its target population until the middle of the year.
“We are currently preparing to start vaccination in late February,” said Kono. “We would like to provide information about what will come after that, as things get going.”
Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga has promised to have enough vaccines for the Japanese population by mid-2021. But production and distribution problems have made it difficult to launch vaccines worldwide, and Japan is already behind most major economies at the beginning of your vaccination campaign.
Kono said the Pfizer vaccine will be used for the first injections, starting with 10,000 health workers in 100 hospitals. The next priority after medical workers was to vaccinate the elderly, those with health problems and workers in the elderly care institutions.
Japan has made deals to buy 144 million doses, enough to inoculate 72 million people, from Pfizer. It also secured 50 million doses from Moderna Inc and 120 million from AstraZeneca Plc. Altogether, that would be more than enough for the Japanese population of 126 million.
Japan requires domestic vaccine testing before granting regulatory approval. Pfizer is expected to pass next month, while Moderna started its first home test on Thursday. AstraZeneca did a test in Japan, but has not yet applied for approval.
Reporting by Kiyoshi Takenaka and Rocky Swift; Editing by Ana Nicolaci da Costa