The government is preparing to grant approval for the production and sale of the novel coronavirus vaccine made by U.S. biotechnology company Moderna Inc. as early as May 21. If approved, it will be the second vaccine to get the green light following the one made by U.S. pharmaceutical giant Pfizer Inc.
Takeda Pharmaceutical Co., which is in charge of clinical trials and distribution in Japan, applied to the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry for approval in March. The government will make the vaccine subject to "special approval," which shortens the review period for pharmaceutical products. The final decision will be made by combining domestic clinical trial data to that obtained overseas and already reviewed.
Following approval, an expert panel will be convened and the drug will be regarded as a provisional vaccine for preventing the spread of infectious diseases on a emergency basis. The public will be obligated to make an effort to get vaccinated.
The interval between the two inoculations of the Moderna vaccine is four weeks, compared to three weeks for the Pfizer vaccine, and it is targeted for those 18 years and older. The Moderna vaccine is stored at a temperature of about minus 20 C, making a deep freezer unnecessary.
The government has signed a contract to supply doses for 25 million people (a total of 50 million doses) of the Moderna vaccine. Vaccines for 20 million people are scheduled to be delivered by June and for the remaining 5 million between July and September.
In order to speed up the vaccination process, the government plans to open large-scale vaccination sites in Tokyo and Osaka starting May 24, using medical and nursing personnel from the Self-Defense Forces. It plans to allocate Moderna vaccines to the venues. The aim is to vaccinate 10,000 people per day, with hopes of completing the vaccination of about 36 million elderly people by the end of July.
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