TOKYO — Japan will open a mass vaccination center in central Tokyo next month, officials said on Tuesday, part of the country’s bid to speed up its COVID-19 inoculation campaign as the Olympic Games looms. Japan began vaccinating its sizable elderly population this month but only about 1.5% of the country’s entire 126 million population has been vaccinated, according to a Reuters tracker. Officials have so far been dependent on limited imported doses of Pfizer Inc’s vaccine. Domestic regulators are expected to make a decision next month on Moderna’s vaccine, of which the government has arranged to buy 50 million doses. The government has also arranged to buy 120 million doses of AstraZeneca Plc’s vaccine, which is also in the approval process.

Source: Philippine Daily Inquirer April 27, 2021 04:30 UTC