TOKYO (AP) – Japan formally approved its first COVID-19 vaccine on Sunday and said it would begin inoculating across the country in a matter of days, but months after the United States and many other countries.
Japan’s health ministry said it had approved the vaccine developed and supplied by Pfizer Inc.
The announcement comes after a government group confirmed on Friday that the final results of clinical trials conducted in Japan showed that the vaccine had an efficacy similar to that shown by overseas trials.
Many countries began vaccinating their citizens late last year, and the Pfizer vaccine has been used elsewhere since December.
Under the current plan, some 20,000 front-line medical workers at hospitals in Japan will receive their first shots around Wednesday. About 3.7 million other medical workers will be next, followed by seniors, who are expected to receive the shots in April. In June, everyone else is expected to be eligible.
Health Ministry official Yuta Yamashita said inoculations could begin as soon as a ministry group on vaccination logistics approves.
Approval was granted in a special expressway process for emergency use. It took two months compared to the usual one year in a country known for prudent and slow approval processes.
Still, the launch in Japan lags behind many other countries because the government had requested clinical trials at home, in addition to the multinational trials that Pfizer conducted on more than 40,000 people from July to November. Many countries accepted Pfizer’s results and moved forward.
In a country where many people are skeptical about vaccines, Japan sought additional evidence to address safety issues. But the tests were conducted with only 160 people and there are those who wonder if it is worth delaying the launch.
Vaccines are considered key to holding the delayed Tokyo Olympics this summer. Japan is expected to receive 144 million doses of Pfizer, 120 million of AstraZeneca and about 50 million of Modern before the end of this year, enough to cover its population.
The vaccines that Japan is developing are still in the early stages, so the country has to rely on imports. AstraZeneca recently applied for approval in Japan, while Moderna has not yet applied. Japan’s confidence in imports, many of which are subject to EU export controls, is also causing concerns about supplies.
Shigeru Omi, head of the government’s coronavirus working group, cited earlier this month the lack of global competitiveness of Japanese pharmaceuticals as a reason for the delay in deployment.
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