Shionogi looking to provide Japan's first domestically produced COVID-19 vaccine this year
The drugmaker is currently discussing with the health ministry a framework that would enable the efficacy and safety of the vaccine to be evaluated even with small-scale trials.
A total of about 390 municipalities will launch the vaccination program in a seven-day period starting Monday, the largest number per week, the health ministry said.
Vlad the vaccinator: Dracula's castle lures visitors with COVID-19 shots
Visitors to Dracula's castle are more likely to find puncture marks in their arms than their necks this month, after a COVID-19 vaccination center was set up at the Transylvanian attraction.
Suga support rate hits new low after virus emergency extension
Asked whether they approved of his government’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic, 63% of respondents to a JNN survey said they did not, a 13 percentage point increase.
Major Japan telecoms firms to restrict vaccination reservation calls
The restrictions are aimed at securing enough capacity for communications equipment and preventing adverse effects on emergency calls.
Unused COVID-19 shots piling up in Japan amid slow rollout
Japan imported 28 million doses of Pfizer Inc.'s COVID-19 vaccine through late April, but has so far used only 15% of the stockpile, with the remaining 24 million doses sitting in freezers.
WHO approves Sinopharm vaccine in potential boost to COVAX pipeline
The vaccine, one of two main Chinese coronavirus vaccines, is the first developed by a non-Western country to win WHO backing.
Britain free of coronavirus by August, outgoing vaccine task force chief says
Dix said he expects everybody in the U.K. to have been vaccinated at least once by the end of July, when "we'll have probably protected the population from all the variants that are known."
The WHO estimates that 25% of global deaths last week occurred in India, a death toll that exceeded 3,700 lives per day.
Japan pharma industry opposes U.S. backing for vaccine patent waiver
The Japan Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association said it is concerned that noneffective products may circulate, and the risk of side effects could increase as well.
At that pace, it would take about seven months for every person in the country aged 16 and older to receive both of their shots.
Anti-Olympics petition garners over 200,000 signatures at record pace
In two days since its launch, an online campaign called Stop Tokyo Olympics had almost reached its goal of 200,000 signatures.
