China News Service, August 1st. According to Kyodo News Agency of Japan, on July 31, local time, 1,578 people were newly diagnosed with the new coronavirus in Japan, a record high in a single day. Japanese local governments have announced to strengthen countermeasures. On the same day, the Japanese government and the US pharmaceutical giant Pfizer reached a basic agreement that if the new crown vaccine is successfully developed, Pfizer will provide 60 million vaccines to Japan by the end of June 2021.
Data map: Researchers are developing a new coronavirus mRNA vaccine. Photo by Tang Yanjun
According to reports, on July 31, there were 463 new cases of new crown in Tokyo, Japan, and 193 new cases in Aichi Prefecture, both reaching new highs. In order to prevent and control the epidemic, Japan's Gifu Prefecture issued the "Second Wave of Extraordinary Events" declaration on its own, requesting residents not to drink and eat in Nagoya City.
Okinawa Prefecture also issued its own emergency declaration. For Minami, the downtown area of Osaka City, which has a large number of infected people, the Osaka Prefecture requested that restaurants that provide alcoholic beverages should shorten their business hours or close their businesses from August 6 to 20. The Kyoto prefecture urges residents to limit drinking parties and dinner parties to within 2 hours.
On the other hand, the Japanese central government believed that it was “different from the emergency declaration in April” on the grounds that there were fewer critically ill patients, etc., and rejected the re-issue of the emergency declaration. As an alternative, the plan is to divide the epidemic situation in each region into four stages, and implement "relaxed measures" in each prefecture.
In addition, Japan’s Health, Labor and Welfare Minister Kato Katsunobu also revealed that the Japanese government reached a basic agreement with US pharmaceutical companies on July 31. If its new crown vaccine is successfully developed, Pfizer will provide 60 million vaccines to Japan by the end of June 2021. This is the first time that the Japanese government has reached an agreement with a pharmaceutical company to ensure the supply of the new crown vaccine.
Kato told reporters in Tokyo: "We will work hard to provide safe and effective vaccines as soon as possible. We hope that consultations will be advanced quickly for the final contract." The approval procedures and the construction of production bases will be finalized in the future. To ensure vaccine supply, the Japanese government is still negotiating with pharmaceutical companies other than Pfizer.
Kato said at a press conference in June 2020 that he will strive to improve the system in the first half of 2021 so that mass production can be carried out after successful vaccine development.