Japan vaccine supplies to be limited, delaying shots for elderly - minister (updated)

Taro Pharmaceutical Industries

22/02/2021 03:28

(Adds government spokesman comments in 5th, 6th paragraphs.)
    TOKYO, Feb 22 (Reuters) - Japan will only receive limited
doses of COVID-19 vaccines for the first months of the rollout
and shots for the elderly will be distributed gradually, the
country's inoculation chief said.
    Pfizer Inc  PFE.N , the maker of Japan's only approved
COVID-19 vaccine, is ramping up production in Europe, but those
increased supplies are not likely to reach Japan until May,
Administrative Reform Minister Taro Kono cautioned on Sunday in
an interview with national broadcaster NHK.
    "We would like to start vaccinations for the elderly in
April, but unfortunately the number of doses allocated to them
will be very limited at first, so we want to start slowly," Kono
said.
    Japan has negotiated to receive more than 500 million doses
of COVID-19 vaccines developed by Western drugmakers. But
domestic regulators have only approved one vaccine so far, and
the nation remains dependent on imported supplies that have been
held up by production snags and export controls.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N2K807E
    As Japan and other nations consider how to stretch scarce
vaccine supplies, a recent Israeli study indicated that a single
shot of the Pfizer formula may protect against the virus, rather
than the standard two doses.
    Japan's chief government spokesman said on Monday that the
vaccine's regulatory approval was based on a two-dose regime.
 urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N2KS0LO 
    "I think we need to carefully consider whether we can
immediately conclude from this study that one dose is enough or
not," Chief Cabinet Secretary Katsunobu Kato told reporters.
    Since Kono was tapped last month to lead Japan's vaccination
push, he has resisted giving firm timelines for when doses will
arrive and be distributed. Even so, the government has stuck to
a pledge to secure enough shots for the whole population of 126
million by June.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N2JV0BG urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N2KN05E
    Japan has negotiated to receive 144 million doses of
Pfizer's vaccine this year, and its second shipment of about
450,000 shots arrived on Sunday. 
    The inoculation campaign kicked off last week with doctors
and nurses getting the first shots. The government is
prioritising vaccinations for around 4.7 million medical
workers, about 1 million more than initially estimated.
 urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N2KP0B4 urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N2KN05E
    

 (Reporting by Yoshifumi Takemoto, Rocky Swift and Eimi
Yamamitsu; Editing by Stephen Coates and Sam Holmes)
 ((yoshifumi.takemoto@thomsonreuters.com))