Japan approves more COVID-19 vaccines and expands state of emergency
TOKYO (Reuters) -Japan expanded a state of emergency to cover the southern island of Okinawa on Friday, just as it approved two more coronavirus vaccines to speed up its lagging inoculation campaign.
The newly approved vaccines, from Moderna Inc and AstraZeneca PLC, will join the one co-developed by Pfizer Inc and BioNTech SE in a vaccination drive that began in mid-February.
But AstraZeneca’s vaccine would not be used for the time being, the company said. Earlier media reports said the government would hold off on their use due to concerns over blood clots and bleeding in some people.
“We are aware that our vaccine is not going to be used right away,” a spokeswoman at AstraZeneca said. Japan has arranged to buy 120 million doses of the British-Swedish drugmaker’s vaccine.
Japan has so far vaccinated just 4.1% of its population, according to Reuters’ global tracker tmsnrt.rs/3vbj5CE, the slowest rate among the world’s larger, rich countries.
In contrast to some other Group of Seven (G7) countries that are beginning to end pandemic-busting lockdown measures, much of Japan remains under emergency curbs amid a fourth wave of infections.
On Friday, the government added Okinawa to its list of nine prefectures under the strictest emergency measures. They include Tokyo, where the Olympic Games are due to start in about two months.
JAPAN INC, PUBLIC FEARS OVER OLYMPICS
Fears that the Olympics would turn into a super-spreader event have persisted, keeping the majority of the public opposed to holding the Games this year. A Reuters corporate survey here published on Friday showed nearly 70% of Japanese firms also want the Games either cancelled or postponed.
The state of emergency for Okinawa would run for about a month from Sunday through June 20, Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga said, beyond the May 31 end of the other nine.
The move marks the third consecutive week that Japan has expanded the state of emergency.
Japan has so far recorded about 695,000 novel coronavirus infections and 12,000 COVID-19 deaths – much fewer than many countries – but its medical system is increasingly strained by a spike in more infectious variants of the virus.
With the Olympics starting on July 23, Tokyo is under particular pressure to bring infections and strain on the medical system down from the most dire “Stage Four” level and emerge from a state of emergency as scheduled this month.
After a 30-minute meeting with Suga on Friday, Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike said she requested a sufficient supply of vaccines for the capital as it begins mass-vaccinations next week, and said the two shared their commitment to working towards a “safe and secure” Olympics this summer.
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