Japan minister warns of slower pace of COVID vaccine shots for elderly
Inoculations of Japan s elderly against the novel coronavirus will start in April as planned but at a slower pace, the minister in charge of the inoculation rollout said Sunday as the country received its second shipment of Pfizer Inc. s vaccine.
Citing what he said was a delay until May of a production capacity increase by Pfizer, Taro Kono, the administrative and regulatory reform minister, said supply of the vaccine will be very limited until April, adding, We will start (vaccination of the elderly) little by little and expand it slowly.
Japan to receive 2nd shipment of Pfizer vaccine on Feb. 21
Japan will receive its second shipment of Pfizer Inc. s COVID-19 vaccine on Sunday, the minister in charge of vaccination efforts said Friday, as the rollout gradually expands to hospitals across the country.
Taro Kono said at a press conference the shipment of up to 452,790 doses is set to arrive after the European Union gave approval under its new vaccine export controls.
Japan, which received its first shipment of up to 386,100 doses from Pfizer s factory in Belgium last week, launched its vaccination program on Wednesday for an initial group of 40,000 health care workers, which first started in the Tokyo metropolitan area.
Japan s COVID-19 vaccine rollout expands beyond Tokyo area
Japan expanded its COVID-19 vaccine rollout beyond the Tokyo metropolitan area on Thursday, with health workers set to be inoculated at 100 hospitals across the country by next week.
Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga inspected the program at the Tokyo Medical Center, the first institution to begin administering Pfizer Inc. s vaccine the previous day. I felt that health workers are placing much hope on vaccinations, he said after speaking with staff at the state-run hospital. I hope to deliver vaccines to people nationwide as soon as possible.
Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga watches a person being vaccinated at Tokyo Medical Center on Feb. 18, 2021. (Kyodo)
Japan will survey the potential side effects caused by various coronavirus vaccines after a total of 3 million doses are administered to the general public, the health ministry says.
Fewer people to get Pfizer vaccine in Japan due to syringe shortage
Japan is unlikely to inoculate as many people with Pfizer Inc. s COVID-19 vaccine as planned due to a shortage of special syringes capable of extracting the final dose from vials provided by the drugmaker, health minister Norihisa Tamura said Tuesday.
The country said last month that it had secured doses for 72 million people based on the assumption that each vial could provide six shots. But without low dead space syringes, which minimize the amount of vaccine left in the syringe after use, a vial ends up yielding only five doses enough for 60 million people.