Japan Signs Additional Contract for 120 Million Pfizer Vaccine Doses for Booster Shots

[Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Suhwan] The Japanese government has agreed to a contract with the American pharmaceutical company Pfizer to additionally import 120 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine next year for the third round of vaccinations (booster shots).

The Mainichi Shimbun reported on the 17th that "After completing the two-dose COVID-19 vaccination for all citizens who wish to be vaccinated, the Japanese government is expected to start administering booster shots beginning with healthcare workers and elderly people aged 65 and over."

The Japanese government plans to complete the two-dose vaccination for all citizens who wish to be vaccinated by November.

The government's push for booster shots appears to be in response to the rapidly spreading Delta variant.

Taro Kono, Minister in charge of Administrative Reform and vaccine rollout, appeared on a Japanese private broadcaster the day before and said, "Both Pfizer and Moderna have secured enough vaccine doses for people who received two doses this year to get a third dose. An agreement for additional supply with Pfizer has also been reached. We will be able to share the details soon."

Previously, Japan signed contracts to import 194 million doses from Pfizer, 50 million doses from the American company Moderna, and 120 million doses from the British company AstraZeneca (AZ) within this year.

For next year's supply, a contract was signed to import 50 million doses of Moderna vaccine.

Meanwhile, as of the previous day, 62.68 million people (49.3% vaccination rate) in Japan have received at least one vaccine dose, and 47.23 million people (37.2%) have completed two doses.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.