COVID-19 vaccination in Japan

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COVID-19 vaccination in Japan
Japan map of fully vaccinated people by percentage of population by prefecture as of 23rd of June 2021.png
Japan map by prefecture. Percentage of people got fully vaccinated by population as of 9rd of January 2023. [1]
Date17 February 2021 (2021-02-17) – 13 April 2023 (2023-04-13)
LocationJapan
Cause COVID-19 pandemic in Japan
TargetFull immunisation of people in Japan against COVID-19
Organised by Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare
Participants77,098,247 people have received at least one vaccine dose
(7 September 2021)
61,995,078 have been fully vaccinated (received both vaccine doses, 7 September 2021) [2] [3]
Outcome81.8% of the Japanese population has received their first dose of a two-dose vaccine
80.6% has been fully vaccinated
58.8% has received a booster shot
Website Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare
Yoshihide Suga, the prime minister of Japan vaccinated with a COVID-19 vaccine COVID-19wakuchin(huaizaZhi )noJie Zhong woXing uJian Yi Wei Shou Xiang 4.jpg
Yoshihide Suga, the prime minister of Japan vaccinated with a COVID-19 vaccine

COVID-19 vaccination in Japan started later than in most other major economies. [4] The country has frequently been regarded as "slow" in its vaccination efforts. [5] [6]

Contents

Japan has so far approved Pfizer–BioNTech, Moderna and Oxford–AstraZeneca for use. In April 2024, data from the government shows that 79.5% of people have had their second dose, while 80.4% have received first shot. [7] Today, 79 percent of Japanese people have received two doses of a COVID-19 vaccine; 67 percent have received a third (booster) dose. [8]

Background

On 14 February 2021, Pfizer was approved by the government of Japan, [9] and was deployed on 17 February 2021. [10] On 28 May 2021, Pfizer was approved by the Japanese health ministry panel for adolescents aged between 12 and 15 years. [11]

On 21 May 2021, Moderna and Astrazeneca were approved by the government of Japan. [12]

Vaccines on order

VaccineApprovalDeploymentDoses secured
(million) [13]
Pfizer–BioNTech Green check.svg 14 February 2021Green check.svg 17 February 2021194
Moderna Green check.svg 21 May 2021 [12] Green check.svg 23 May 2021 [14] 100 [15] [16]
Oxford–AstraZeneca Green check.svg 21 May 2021 [12] Green check.svg 16 August 2021 [17] 120
Janssen Green check.svg 20 June 2022 [18] Dark Red x.svg No
Novavax Green check.svg 19 April 2022 [19] Green check.svg 26 May 2022150 [20]

Note: Japan has donated 1.24 million doses of AstraZeneca vaccine to Taiwan and 1 million doses to Vietnam. There are plans to send additional 2 million doses to these countries. Japan has also donated 1 million doses each to Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines. [21]

Vaccines in trial stage

VaccineCountry of originType (technology)ProgressRef
AG0302-COVID‑19
AnGes Inc., AMED
Japan DNA vaccine (plasmid)Phase II–III (500)
Randomized, double-blind, placebo controlled
Nov 2020 Apr 2021, Japan
[22] [23] [24] [25]
S-268019
Shionogi
Japan Subunit Phase I–II (214)
Randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, parallel-group.
Dec 2020 Jun 2022, Japan
[26]
DS-5670
Daiichi Sankyo
Japan RNA Phase I–II (152)
A Phase 1/2 Study to Assess the Safety, Immunogenicity and Recommended Dose of DS-5670a (COVID-19 Vaccine) in Japanese Healthy Adults and Elderly Subjects.
Mar 2021 Jul 2022, Japan
[27] [28] [29]
KD-414
KM Biologics Co
Japan Inactivated SARS‑CoV‑2 Phase I–II (210)
Randomized, double blind, placebo control, parallel group.
Mar 2021  Dec 2022, Japan
[30] [31]
EXG-5003
Elixirgen Therapeutics, Fujita Health University
Japan, United States RNA Phase I–II (60)
First in Human, randomized, placebo-controlled.
Apr 2021 Jan 2023, Japan
[32]

History

In April 2021, prime minister Suga Yoshihide announced that Japan will receive 50 million doses of the Pfizer vaccine after a meeting with the company's CEO. [4] [33]

The roll out of the vaccines in Japan, with 4 percent of the population inoculated as of May 21, 2021, has led to criticisms of slow approval, disruptions on import, and the lack of medical professionals. [34] [35] A poll conducted in April showed that more than 60 percent of people were dissatisfied with Japan's vaccine rollout, with experts stating that it was too late now to stop the spread of variants with vaccines. [36]

On May 21, 2021, several municipal governments in Kanagawa Prefecture were getting rid of their Moderna vaccine stocks as the doses are near their expiry date. [37] On June 5, 2022, around 740,000 Moderna doses will be disposed of due to being expired. [38]

Distribution issues

2020 Summer Olympics

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