Japan could approve the second COVID-19 vaccine in May, according to the health minister

The nation’s health minister said on Sunday that his ministry could approve a second COVID-19 vaccine as early as May, as the government sees inoculations as key to curbing infections.

“There is the possibility of giving pharmaceutical approval as early as May or June,” Norihisa Tamura, Minister of Health, Labor and Welfare, said during a television program.

Tamura also said the government would be willing to consider a Johnson & Johnson application for its single-dose vaccine if it is presented. But he has not yet decided whether to buy the vaccine as discussions continue, he said.

The vaccine of the American pharmaceutical giant Pfizer Inc. it was the first to be approved in Japan in February. The British AstraZeneca PLC filed an application for its coronavirus vaccine in early February and Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. also requested approval of the vaccine from the American biotechnology company Moderna Inc. last Friday.

Takeda, which manages the approval and domestic imports of about 50 million doses of Moderna, announced the presentation. He had previously said that approval could be given in May.

Japan began its inoculations in mid-February with the Pfizer Inc. vaccine. But doses of Pfizer, imported from European factories, are scarce.

Japan has signed agreements with the three vaccine manufacturers for a total of 314 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine, enough to inoculate 157 million people. The country’s population is about 126 million.

Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga has repeatedly said that vaccinations are a crucial step in controlling the pandemic as soon as possible.

Tamura also said the government plans to increase medical capacity once the state of emergency in Tokyo and three surrounding prefectures is removed. The emergency declaration covering the capital and prefectures of Chiba, Kanagawa and Saitama was extended for two weeks on Friday.

“We don’t want to see another resurgence of the virus, but we have to think about the worst case scenario,” Tamura said, adding that the government aims to strengthen the health care system so it can manage a resurgence that is even the worst. double the current wave scale.