Japan Considers COVID-19 Vaccine Mix-and-Match Vaccination... "May Start as Early as October"

▲Taro Kono Administrative Reform Award [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kwon Jae-hee] Cross-vaccination, where COVID-19 vaccines are administered using different products, is also expected to take place in Japan.

According to the Tokyo Shimbun on the 30th, Taro Kono, Minister for Administrative Reform who oversees vaccine administration, said in an interview with Fuji TV the day before that the government is reviewing plans to implement cross-vaccination.

He mentioned that he requested the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, the public health authority, to provide opinions on the feasibility, and predicted that if cross-vaccination is permitted, the vaccination speed could be significantly increased.

In Japan, three COVID-19 vaccines from Pfizer, Moderna, and AstraZeneca have been approved, but except for AstraZeneca, which has been rarely reported overseas to cause thrombocytopenic thrombosis, only the same vaccine is administered twice, mainly Pfizer and Moderna products at this stage.

Regarding the third dose (booster shot) plan currently under review, Minister Kono anticipated, "It will likely start with healthcare workers as early as October to November this year."

He said that for elderly people aged 65 and over, the goal is to begin the third dose in January to February next year, and that the necessary vaccines have been secured.

The Japanese government plans to complete two doses for all willing recipients by November this year.

The Japanese government has contracts to receive 194 million doses of Pfizer, 50 million doses of Moderna, and 120 million doses of AstraZeneca vaccines within this year.

Regarding next year's supply, after securing 50 million doses of Moderna vaccines, it was reported by Mainichi Shimbun on the 17th that a broad agreement was reached to sign an additional contract for 120 million doses of Pfizer vaccines.

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