Japan, eyeing Olympics, lines up half-billion doses of COVID-19 vaccine (updated)

AnGes

28/08/2020 11:15

(Adds details on outgoing PM Abe's vaccine pledge, travel ban
lifting in 4th, 12th-13th paragraphs.)
    By Rocky Swift
    TOKYO, Aug 28 (Reuters) - Japan is making an aggressive move
to grab enough coronavirus vaccine to inoculate its population
four times over, a push the government hopes will instil
confidence that it can host a delayed Summer Olympics next year.
    Like other rich countries, Japan is signing multiple deals
because some of the vaccines could fail in clinical trials or
require more than one dose.
    But Japan has something else riding on a successful mass
rollout of a vaccine: outgoing Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's aim
to bring thousands of athletes and fans to Tokyo for the Games,
postponed from this year due to the pandemic.
    On the day he announced his resignation as premier, Abe
sought to reassure domestic and foreign audiences that the
coronavirus was under control. He pledged there would be enough
vaccine for Japan by the middle of 2021 and said the nation
would relax its travel ban from Sept. 1.
    Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga earlier had said
Japan was working with Olympic organisers on how to go ahead
with the Games, tying the effort to the need to secure a
vaccine.
    The various companies "will probably be able to produce a
vaccine between the end of this year and next March", Suga told
Reuters in an interview this week. "There are a lot of
considerations, but we want to hold the Olympics at all costs."
    Japan is on track to have 521 million doses of five
different vaccines in 2021, compared with a population of 126
million. Recent deals include global arrangements with such
drugmakers as Pfizer Inc  PFE.N  and AstraZeneca PLC  AZN.L , as
well as local deals with the likes of Shionogi & Co.  4507.T 
 urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N2F7483    
    "You have to bet evenly to avoid getting nothing," said
Tomoya Saito, director at Japan's National Institute of Public
Health.
    
    'HOPE FOR A MIRACLE'       
    Some critics contend that Japan's rush to secure supplies is
driven largely by a political desire to show the world it is 
fully committed to the Games.
    "The plan is, hope for a miracle and then capitalise on that
miracle," said Michael Cucek, a political science professor at
Temple University Japan. "But the timeframe for that is getting
narrower and narrower." 
    Health ministry and cabinet Office officials did not respond
to queries about whether Japan's drive to secure coronavirus
vaccines was connected to the Olympics.
    Abe pledged to increase testing capacity to 200,000 per day
along with securing vaccine supplies. He also said Japan's
travel ban, one of the strictest in the world, would ease on
Sept. 1.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N2FU0RW
    From that date, non-citizen residents of Japan and visa
holders can leave and reenter the country, with prior
authorisation. They must also demonstrate a negative coronavirus
test result within 72 hours of returning to Japan, cabinet
officials said at a briefing on Friday.
    Japanese officials have discussed putting on a "simplified"
Games, originally expected to attract 600,000 visitors. But the
event would still involve some 11,000 athletes.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N2DH11P
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    Holding the Olympics requires "mass quantities of an
effective vaccine", said Kenji Shibuya, director of the
Institute of Population Health at King's College, London.
    Staging an Olympics in a pandemic will be a huge logistical
challenge, as athletes will have to train and travel to events
and many more thousands of fans will have to be accommodated at
a time when many countries may still be in lockdown. Japan still
has a travel ban in place covering more than 140 countries.
 urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N2FK1QS
    Even with a viable vaccine, the additional challenge of
immunising athletes and visitors before or after landing in
Japan will be enormous.
    A "very, very essential factor" will be when an effective
vaccine will be ready and how it will be distributed, Tokyo
Governor Yuriko Koike told Reuters.
    "We will do our best to prevent coronavirus infections here
in Japan and also to welcome the athletes from all over the
world."

    <^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Olympics-Japan to explore 'simplified' Games: Tokyo governor   
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With one year to go, experts warn of high-risk Tokyo Olympics
amid pandemic     urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N2EH2H9
FACTBOX-U.S., UK spend billions to take lead in securing
coronavirus vaccines     urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N2F7483
    ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^>
 (Reporting by Rocky Swift; Editing by David Dolan, William
Mallard and Nick Macfie)
 ((rocky.swift@thomsonreuters.com;))