Japan panel signs off on approval of Pfizer vaccine, NHK says
Lisa Du, Bloomberg
FacebookTwitterEmail
A healthcare worker holds a vial of the Pfizer-BioNTech covid-19 vaccine in Belgrade, Serbia, on Jan. 10, 2021.Bloomberg photo by Oliver Bunic.
A Japanese panel signed off on the approval of Pfizer and BioNTech s coronavirus vaccine for emergency use, according to broadcaster NHK, paving the way for the nation to launch an inoculation effort that has faced criticism for being one of the last among developed countries.
The nod from the Ministry of Health s advisory Pharmaceutical Affairs and Food Sanitation Council late Friday sets the stage for the government to give official approval of the shot as early as Feb. 14. It will be Japan s first approval of a covid-19 vaccine.
Vaccines turn into geopolitics in Balkans
Jasmina Kuzmanovic, Misha Savic and Jan Bratanic, Bloomberg
Jan. 22, 2021
FacebookTwitterEmail
Military personnel and members of the public line up to receive the Sinopharm covid-19 vaccine in Belgrade, Serbia, on Jan. 19, 2021.Bloomberg photo by Oliver Bunic.
The coronavirus exposed lingering divisions in the Balkans, and now Europe s most volatile region is once again cleaving along geopolitical and ethnic lines over efforts to get people vaccinated.
The European Union has pledged to give six prospective members 70 million euros ($85 million) to buy covid shots, but deliveries are facing delays. That s empowered Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic to leverage his links with China and traditional ally Russia into pledging vaccine donations to North Macedonia and to the ethnic Serbs in Kosovo and Bosnia-Herzegovina.