Reuters
TOKYO –The Japanese government is considering providing part of the national supply of COVID-19 vaccines secured from AstraZeneca PLC to Taiwan, Japan’s Sankei newspaper reported on Friday, citing government and ruling party sources.
Japan approved AstraZeneca’s vaccine last week and has contracted to buy 120 million doses. But there are no immediate plans to use the shots in the country, amid lingering concerns raised internationally over blood clots.
AstraZeneca’s local partner Daiichi Sankyo Co started bottling the vaccine in March and the stockpile is currently estimated at around 30 million doses which will expire by September if not used.
The amount is set to increase as AstraZeneca added Nipro Corp this week as its third local partner to conduct filling and packaging of the vaccine.
Japan started its inoculation drive in mid-February, later than most major economies and using imported doses of the shot developed by Pfizer Inc and BioNTech SE.
A vaccine developed by Moderna also went into use this week with the opening of mass vaccination centers.