Komeito working to fast-track virus vaccine rollout

July 18 , 2020

On July 17, a Komeito team monitoring the development, production and distribution of a COVID-19 vaccine in Japan met with officers of the UK pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca PLC’s Japanese subsidiary led by Michio Tanaka, who heads the firm’s science and data technology division. Members of the team and drug maker discussed the issues and challenges of establishing and executing a nationwide inoculation program once a vaccine has been primed for distribution.

Mr. Tanaka said that while his parent company was preparing to supply more than 2 billion vaccines, Japan may not among the first countries to receive ready batches and should therefore be ready to produce the vaccine domestically. The Japanese ministry of health, labor and welfare stated on July 16 its readiness to allocate government funding to produce the vaccine at home.

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