THE ASAHI SHIMBUN
June 5, 2020 at 15:50 JST
Health minister Katsunobu Kato, far right, inspects a polymerase chain reaction testing center in Tokyo. (Asahi Shimbun file photo)
As companies race to find a novel coronavirus vaccine, an effort to ensure it will be quickly mass-produced once developed will be conducted at the same time.
Health minister Katsunobu Kato said at a June 5 news conference that waiting for the development of a vaccine before starting to create a production structure would delay offering it to the public.
“We will make every effort to provide the vaccine to the public as soon as possible,” Kato said.
That means starting a parallel track preparation of a production structure along with the development of a vaccine, he said.
Kato indicated that if successfully developed, the vaccine could be given to the public from the first half of 2021.
The health ministry plans to select a number of candidate vaccines being developed and set up production structures at the same time as research continues to confirm their effectiveness and safety. The ministry has included an item in the second supplementary budget setting aside 137.7 billion yen ($1.3 billion) to support creation of the manufacturing structure for the vaccine.
It is highly unusual to begin setting up a mass-production structure while there is still uncertainty about whether a vaccine will be successfully developed. But the parallel-track measure is being pushed so that the vaccine can reach the public almost as soon as it has been developed.
The government is providing support for production because of the high financial risk that the companies are taking in developing a vaccine.
While 10 billion yen was set aside in the first supplementary budget approved in late April to support research and development of a coronavirus vaccine, another 50 billion yen has also been included in the second supplementary budget that will be deliberated in the Diet from next week.
A number of research projects have already begun in Japan. The World Health Organization said about 150 vaccine development projects are proceeding around the world.
Ten of those projects have moved to a clinical testing stage for safety and effectiveness in humans, but no Japanese project has progressed as far.
First signs if a COVID-19 vaccine works possible in autumn--GAVI
May 25, 2020
Coronavirus vaccine from Moderna appears safe, shows promise in data from 8 people
May 19, 2020
Experts: Vaccine for coronavirus unlikely before Tokyo Olympics
May 11, 2020
OLYMPICS/ IOC’s Coates says Tokyo Games not contingent on vaccine
April 29, 2020
OLYMPICS/ Games next year difficult without vaccine--JMA chief
April 28, 2020
Stories about memories of cherry blossoms solicited from readers
Cooking experts, chefs and others involved in the field of food introduce their special recipes intertwined with their paths in life.
A series based on diplomatic documents declassified by Japan’s Foreign Ministry
A series on the death of a Japanese woman that sparked a debate about criminal justice policy in the United States
A series about Japanese-Americans and their memories of World War II
Here is a collection of first-hand accounts by “hibakusha” atomic bomb survivors.
