REUTERS
April 18, 2021 at 12:40 JST
Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga speaks at a news conference at the White House on April 16. (AP Photo)
Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla has agreed to Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga's request to supply additional doses of the COVID-19 vaccine, the vaccine minister said on Sunday.
"They have agreed on the essentials of the matter," vaccine tsar Taro Kono said during a live interview on Fuji TV, adding that further details including the shipment schedule will be discussed.
Kono did not specify the number of extra doses sought from Pfizer, but said Japan would secure enough supply by the end of September to inoculate all people over 16. The Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine is the only one approved in Japan.
Suga made the request during a telephone call with Bourla on Saturday, the last day of a three-day visit to Washington.
Japan is seeing a surge of new coronavirus cases in recent weeks, which top health experts say is a fourth wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Only 0.9% of the Japanese public had received their first vaccine shot as of Friday, compared with 2.5% in South Korea, and 48% in the United Kingdom.
Pfizer applies for COVID-19 vaccine approval in Japan
December 18, 2020
Syringe mix-up to hurt efficiency in COVID-19 vaccine program
February 10, 2021
Japan likely to hit COVID-19 herd immunity in October, months after Olympics--researcher
January 25, 2021
Pfizer, BioNTech to supply 120 mln doses of coronavirus vaccine to Japan
August 1, 2020
Panasonic works on special vaccine storage boxes
January 21, 2021
Japan gives special approval to Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine
February 14, 2021
Here is a collection of first-hand accounts by “hibakusha” atomic bomb survivors.
A peek through the music industry’s curtain at the producers who harnessed social media to help their idols go global.
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 about Japanese-Americans and their memories of World War II
