Japan to receive second COVID-19 vaccine shipment on Sunday, Kono says

>> Reuters

Published: 19 Feb 2021 02:13 PM BdST Updated: 19 Feb 2021 02:13 PM BdST

A medical worker fills a syringe with a dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccine as Japan launches its inoculation campaign, at Tokyo Medical Center in Tokyo, Japan Feb 17, 2021. REUTERS

Japan will receive its second shipment of coronavirus vaccines on Sunday, vaccine programme chief Taro Kono said on Friday.

The next shipment will have about 75,000 vials of the vaccine, Kono told reporters. The government is planning to send out supplies to the rest of the country in the first week of March, he said.

Japan launched its inoculation drive on Wednesday, giving medical personnel the Pfizer-BionTech vaccine. It is the last of the Group of Seven grouping of industrialised nations to begin vaccinations.