The European Union's new COVID-19 vaccine transparency mechanism, which requires manufacturers to receive authorization for exporting vaccines produced in the bloc, may delay deliveries to Japan, Taro Kono, the cabinet minister in charge of Japan's vaccination efforts, said Tuesday
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 02nd February, 2021) The European Union's new COVID-19 vaccine transparency mechanism, which requires manufacturers to receive authorization for exporting vaccines produced in the bloc, may delay deliveries to Japan, Taro Kono, the cabinet minister in charge of Japan's vaccination efforts, said Tuesday.
"Supply in Japan cannot be confirmed [due to the controls]," Kono said at a press conference, as quoted by the Kyodo news agency.
The European Union introduced its new export authorization scheme last week, in response to a dispute with AstraZeneca. The UK-Swedish pharmaceutical giant is expected to fall short on its vaccine deliveries to the bloc by 60 percent in Q1 2021 due to production issues at its plants in Belgium and the Netherlands.
Commenting on the possibility of delays, Kono said that Japan expects to receive all its contracted doses on time.
"We want to request prompt export of the amount that has already been contracted," the minister said, as quoted by the agency.
Japan is scheduled to launch its mass COVID-19 immunization program in February, beginning with health workers. In total, Japan has more than 500 million vaccine doses on order from several Western manufacturers.
The Japanese government is expected on Tuesday to extend a coronavirus-related state of emergency in Tokyo and other disease hotspots for another month to March 7, according to the agency.
More than 389,000 cases of the coronavirus disease have been confirmed in Japan since the start of the pandemic. The country experienced a surge in new cases in early January, which prompted the government to bring in tougher social distancing measures.
