The government on Friday formally approved the COVID-19 vaccines developed by Moderna Inc. and AstraZeneca PLC, taking a major step toward speeding up its sluggish inoculation drive.
The health ministry gave the greenlight for use for people age 18 or older, with two doses taken several weeks apart. Along with the Pfizer Inc. vaccine already in use, the country will now have three types of shots available.
The Moderna vaccine is slated to be administered at mass vaccination centers run by the Self-Defense Forces in Tokyo and Osaka, as well as similar facilities being set up by some prefectures and municipalities.
The AstraZeneca shot, however, may not be used immediately amid lingering concerns over rare cases of blood clots being reported overseas.
Japan’s vaccination program lags behind other developed countries. Since its launch in February, beginning with health care workers and later expanding to people age 65 or older, only around 4% of its population of 126 million has received at least one dose.
Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga, whose public support has fallen amid criticism over his pandemic response, has vowed to ramp up to 1 million shots a day and finish inoculating the elderly by the end of July.
But a recent government survey showed 14% of municipalities expect to miss that deadline amid a dearth of doctors and nurses to administer shots. The effort has also been hampered by technical issues with taking online reservations.
On Thursday, a panel at the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare signed off on the vaccines developed by AstraZeneca and Moderna, which had applied for approval in February and March, respectively.
Japan has supply agreements to receive 50 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine from Moderna by September, 120 million doses from AstraZeneca, and 194 million doses from Pfizer.
The Moderna vaccine uses a new technology called messenger RNA, or mRNA. Pfizer’s is the same type, while the AstraZeneca vaccine uses a harmless version of a common cold virus.
The AstraZeneca vaccine has a slightly lower efficacy rate compared to the other two — 76% compared with 94% for Moderna and 95% for Pfizer.
That is still higher than between 40 and 60% efficacy for influenza vaccines, and the AstraZeneca shot has the advantage of being storable in refrigerators between 2 and 8 degrees Celsius, making it easier to distribute than its rivals, which must be kept in freezers at temperatures as low as around minus 75 C.
Some countries have temporarily suspended use of the AstraZeneca shots or restricted its use on younger people due to rare reports of blood clots.
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