Japan to receive Pfizer vaccine for 72 mn people

Tokyo, Jan 21 : The Japanese government has signed agreements with US pharmaceutical company Pfizer Inc. to receive the drugmaker’s Covid-19 vaccine doses enough for a total of 72 million people within this year, the Health Ministry said.
The additional supply added to the country’s agreement last year with the drugmaker to acquire doses for 60 million people, which accounted for roughly half the country’s population of 126 million, reports Xinhua news agency.
According to the Yomiuri Shimbun newspaper, the government hopes majority of the adults will be vaccinated by July, when the Olympic Games are slated to open.
The country aims to begin inoculating the general public against Covid-19 from May after vaccinating medical workers and the most vulnerable, according to local media reports.
Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga said on Wednesday that Japan aims to start the vaccinations “as soon as possible,” as the country is struggling to curb the spread of the virus amid a resurgence and the mounting pressure on the medical system.
The vaccination process is slated to start with medical workers, then people aged 65 or older from late March, followed by people with pre-existing health conditions and those caring for the elderly.