Japan eyes mixed use of COVID-19 shots to speed vaccine rollout | Inquirer News

Japan eyes mixed use of COVID-19 shots to speed vaccine rollout

/ 05:39 PM August 29, 2021

japan vaccine mix and match

 A medical worker picks a syringe as she gives an injection of COVID-19 vaccination at the Tokyo Metropolitan Government office in Tokyo as Tokyo Metropolitan Government started vaccination for the persons involved in the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, Japan June 18, 2021. REUTERS FILE PHOTO

TOKYO — Japan is looking into the possibility of mixing shots of AstraZeneca Plc’s COVID-19 vaccine with those developed by other drug makers in a bid to speed up its vaccine rollout, the minister in charge of vaccinations said on Sunday.

Japan, which has previously relied on the Pfizer Inc/BioNTech SE and Moderna Inc vaccines, approved AstraZeneca’s vaccine in July and has secured two million doses.

ADVERTISEMENT

“I have asked the health ministry to come up with an opinion about the use of AstraZeneca vaccines for the first dose and Pfizer’s with the second, or the AstraZeneca’s as the first shot and Moderna as second,” vaccine program chief Taro Kono said on the Fuji Television network.

FEATURED STORIES

This could speed up the vaccination rollout by shortening the intervals between the first and second shots when using the AstraZeneca vaccine, he said.

AstraZeneca’s two shots are administered with an interval of eight weeks, longer than for the other vaccines.

Japan is battling its worst wave of infections, driven by the Delta variant, with new daily infections exceeding 25,000 this month for the first time.

The country’s vaccination ratio has lagged other developed nations. Japan has inoculated 54% of its population with at least one dose and fully vaccinated 43%, according to a Reuters vaccine tracker.

Your subscription could not be saved. Please try again.
Your subscription has been successful.

Subscribe to our daily newsletter

By providing an email address. I agree to the Terms of Use and acknowledge that I have read the Privacy Policy.

TAGS: Health, Japan

© Copyright 1997-2024 INQUIRER.net | All Rights Reserved

We use cookies to ensure you get the best experience on our website. By continuing, you are agreeing to our use of cookies. To find out more, please click this link.