Japanese health authorities support use of COVID-19 vaccine upon arrival of first batch

According to the Japanese news agency Kyodo NewsHealth Minister Norihisa Tamura said the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine could receive formal approval in Japan as early as tomorrow.

The support of a panel of the Ministry of Health comes after the arrival of approximately 400,000 doses from Brussels in Belgium at Narita international airport, near the Japanese capital Tokyo, yesterday.

Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga has pledged to vaccinate citizens “as soon as possible” with 20,000 health workers from 100 hospitals to be vaccinated by the middle of next week.

The deployment of the vaccine will be an important boost in Japan’s fight against the virus.

It could also change the attitude of some Japanese residents towards hosting this year’s Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games, with public support appearing to wane due to the global health crisis.

Yesterday, a group of protesters in Japan held up banners calling for the Games to be canceled.

“We have known for a long time that vaccines would play an important role in the fight against the novel coronavirus,” Tamura said.

“This approval is very important for this coming battle, for the protection of the health of the people.”

Japan is said to have bought 114 million doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine and signed agreements with AstraZeneca, Modern and Novavax to get more than enough of their inoculations to vaccinate the population of 126 million.

Doctors and nurses who receive the first vaccines next week will be invited to participate in a study to track possible side effects of the vaccine, according to Kyodo News.

By mid-March, around 3.7 million health workers are expected to start receiving their first vaccine, with people aged 65 and older to follow in April.

The next two priority groups include people with pre-existing illnesses and those working in nursing homes, before the vaccine is offered to the rest of the population.

The Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine – which should be stored at around -75 degrees Celsius – has been shown to be 95% effective against the coronavirus.

The Olympic and Paralympic Games were originally slated to be held last year before being postponed to 2021 due to the pandemic, but doubts persist about hosting the event later this year.

Earlier this month, the Japanese government announced it would extend the state of emergency in Tokyo and 10 other prefectures until March 7 due to a high infection rate.

Tokyo has reported 369 new cases of the coronavirus in the past 24 hours, making it the 16th day in a row that the capital has recorded fewer than 1,000 infections.

Yesterday, Japan reported 1,300 new cases and 63 deaths.

While the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and Tokyo 2020 have stressed that vaccines will not be a “silver bullet” for the Games, their development has nonetheless boosted hopes for future competition.

The IOC has repeatedly stated that it will not queue up those most in need of a vaccination and has insisted that athletes will not be required to participate in the Games .

A playbook published by the IOC and the IFRC’s International Paralympic Committee and technical officials reaffirmed that vaccines will not be mandatory for participants in Tokyo 2020, with measures such as frequent testing, masks and a social distancing to be in place.

However, the National Olympic Committees have been encouraged to inquire about the vaccination of athletes.