The Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry approved Wednesday the domestic use of swine flu vaccines made by British and Swiss companies, paving the way for their distribution around early February with inoculations beginning in midmonth.
Japan has concluded import contracts with the two companies, with vaccines for 7.4 million people to be purchased from Britain's GlaxoSmithKline PLC and 2.5 million from Novartis AG of Switzerland.
The new batch of vaccines is for inoculation of healthy adults who have not been vaccinated for the flu so far.
Because Japan has secured from foreign and domestic sources more than enough H1N1 vaccines for the entire population, the government is studying the feasibility of canceling part of the purchase contracts.