Japan could start producing vaccines for the new H1N1 flu strain in early June, Health, Labor and Welfare Minister Yoichi Masuzoe has indicated.
The minister said Tuesday he expects the swine flu strain for vaccine production to arrive from the United States between late May and early June, and that the ministry will decide what share of vaccine production to allocate to seasonal influenza and what share to the new type of flu in early June.
"We cannot make light of (measures against) seasonal influenza. After examining the characteristics of the new flu and the expected scope of infections, we will decide how many vaccines we will produce to fight the disease in early June," Masuzoe told reporters.