Japan seals deal to get 120M more Pfizer vaccine doses

By Riyaz ul Khaliq

ANKARA (AA) - Japan has signed a deal with the US vaccine manufacturer Pfizer to procure additional 120 million vaccine doses, with the delivery to start in January, said the health minister.

“We will work toward the smooth provision of vaccines,” Shigeyuki Goto, the new health, labor and welfare minister, told a news conference in the capital Tokyo.

The contract was signed on Thursday, Kyodo News reported.

Japan, home to over 126 million people, has reported 1,708,742 COVID-19 cases, including 17,856 deaths.

The vaccine delivery will start in January, the minister added.

Under former Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga, Japan had signed import deals of 50 million doses of Moderna vaccine and 150 million doses of Novavax, both arriving in 2022.

Japan’s Takeda Pharmaceutical Company will handle the vaccine distribution of Novavax in the country.

The issue of additional requirement of vaccines was raised after Japan decided last month to start administering third booster vaccine shots by the end of this year.