The Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare plans to approve the Moderna vaccine used in large-scale inoculation centers on the 21st after approval by an expert group.
For AstraZeneca, we will also consider the risks and benefits and make the final decision.
Currently, only vaccines developed by American pharmaceutical giant Pfizer are used for domestic vaccination of the new coronavirus, and vaccination is being promoted for elderly people.
Under these circumstances, the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare has decided to hold a subcommittee made by experts on the 20th of this week to decide whether or not to approve the vaccines of the two companies for which approval has been submitted, following Pfizer.
Of these, the Moderna vaccine is scheduled to be used at a large-scale inoculation center that will open on the 24th next week, and the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare plans to approve it on the 21st after approval by an expert group.
On the other hand, it has been pointed out that the AstraZeneca vaccine, for which the government has a supply contract for 60 million people, has a risk of causing blood clots in extremely rare cases, so the risks and effects will be examined based on the opinions of experts. And I will make the final decision.
The government is aiming to complete vaccination for the elderly by the end of July and hopes to accelerate vaccination by approving multiple vaccines.