Japan's vaccination chief denies reports of May roll-out

TOKYO • The chief of Japan's Covid-19 vaccination programme yesterday denied media reports that vaccinations for the general public may start in May, as the country battles a third wave that has brought record numbers of infections and serious cases.

The daily Yomiuri said the government was aiming to inoculate most of the population by July, ahead of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics scheduled to start on July 23.

The government has said it would prioritise medical workers, the elderly and those with pre-existing conditions in its vaccine programme expected to start by the end of next month, but has not given a timeline beyond that.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Katsunobu Kato told a daily news briefing the "timeline for vaccination for the broader population would be decided after the vaccine is approved".

The timing of the campaign is of particular interest, given that Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga has said vaccines are key to a safe Olympics.

Japan has arranged to buy 540 million doses from multiple Western developers including Pfizer, whose vaccine is expected to be the first to get regulatory approval.

Japan has concluded a contract to buy 144 million doses of Pfizer's vaccine this year, the health ministry said yesterday, pending domestic approval. That is a 24 million dose increase on an earlier agreement.

Japan has had 345,060 corona-virus cases and 4,749 deaths, NHK reported.

While its death toll is lower than those in many countries, daily deaths topped 100 for the first time on Tuesday, while the number of serious cases reached an all-time high of 1,001, according to Kyodo News.

Media, including public broadcaster NHK, had cited an anonymous source close to the government as saying vaccinations could reach the public as soon as May.

"Oh no, NHK, please don't go around making vaccination roll-out schedules like that. It's bogus," Administrative Reform Minister Taro Kono, who was selected to spearhead the vaccine roll-out this week, said on Twitter.

The roll-out laid out in the Yomiuri report said Japan plans to complete vaccination of 50 million people in high-priority tiers by April, reported Bloomberg.

This would represent a hugely ambitious plan.

Completing vaccination of those in the high-priority category, which includes the elderly, medical workers and those with underlying conditions, would require more than 800,000 doses to be administered each day.

Such a plan would keep pace with an aggressive programme in China, which last month set out to inoculate 50 million people against the virus in a two-month span, ahead of the annual Chinese New Year holiday.

Other countries have also set goals to reach herd immunity, which occurs when a large portion of the community becomes immune to a disease.

South Korean President Moon Jae-in said this week that the country may reach herd immunity by November at the latest.

In the United States, infectious diseases expert Anthony Fauci has said that level will likely happen during the summer, with a return to normality by the end of the year.

Japan, which plans to provide vaccines free of charge, is working to approve Pfizer's shot in the middle of next month, Health Minister Norihisa Tamura said.

Vaccines will not be given to the more than 18 million children under 16 until more trial data on that age group is available, according to the Yomiuri.

REUTERS, BLOOMBERG