Syringe shortage hampers Japan's COVID-19 vaccination roll out
- by Virginia Carter
- in World Media
- — Feb 17, 2021
On Sunday, the government formally issued the country's first COVID-19 vaccine approval, for shots developed and supplied by Pfizer Inc. that have already been used in many other countries since December.
Clive Dix told Sky News that every adult could have their second does by August or September "or maybe sooner if we need to".
Dix runs the body that decides which vaccines the United Kingdom government should buy, and gave assurances that vaccines would arrive at the rate promised by the government.
He said the United Kingdom would "definitely" receive its vaccine supply at the rate promised over the next three to six months, meaning the jab rollout will likely be slowed by hiccups.
Japan will begin the first stage of inoculating its population against COVID-19, with Regulatory Reform Minister Taro Kono saying Tuesday that 40,000 medical workers will receive the jabs from Wednesday, double the number initially planned.
Li, who shipped 600 of those doses internationally via Hong Kong on November 12, went on to make a $140,000 profit, the outlet said.
"High testing rates give us the best chance of finding new cases in the community, so even after the vaccine rollout starts, it is vital people still get tested", Dr Chant said.
That includes an order for 50m doses of a "next generation" vaccine being produced by Curevac that is especially suited to targeting emerging Covid variants.
More information will be provided in the coming weeks about further rollouts of both the Pfizer and AstraZeneca vaccines.
A batch of the vaccines were smuggled overseas, but it is not known where they were sent to.
"But because we've taken a portfolio approach we've got other vaccines that are going to be approved in the very near future".
The drug, which proved 94 per cent effective in protecting against coronavirus in clinical trials, is set to become available in the United Kingdom in as little as two weeks. The vaccination drive would be completed within a year, Kono said.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson is due to outline a route map out of the lockdown on February 22, saying he hopes schools can reopen on March 8.
