Japan greenlights Novavax vaccine, shots to start as early as May

14:45, 19 April 2022

TOKYO. KAZINFORM - Japan's health ministry Tuesday formally approved the use of a COVID-19 vaccine developed by the U.S. biotechnology firm Novavax Inc., with deliveries of the drug to local governments expected to start in late May, and shots might also begin that month, Yonhap reports.

The approval by the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare marks the fourth vaccine to be greenlit for use in Japan and will be produced domestically by medical giant Takeda Pharmaceutical Co., which has been given the technology to manufacture the drug.

Novavax's vaccine will be the first protein-based one, intended for patients who could not use existing vaccines due to risks such as allergies.

«We have purchased the shots to increase the stability and diversity of the vaccine supply,» Health Minister Shigeyuki Goto said at a press conference after the government had secured 150 million doses.

The vaccine can be administered to people aged 18 or older in two shots spaced three weeks apart. It can also be used as a booster shot after six months.

Whether the vaccine can be used for mixing and matching booster shots will be decided by an internal subcommittee in the near future, the health ministry said.

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