Japan on Thursday officially approved Moderna Inc’s COVID-19 vaccine for its booster program, while Novavax Inc applied for the first approval of its shot in the country. Moderna’s mRNA-type vaccine, which is mostly used at workplace vaccination sites in Japan, as a third booster shot for people 18 years of age or older, following a recommendation by health ministry experts on Wednesday was approved for use.
That same age limit applies to the shot developed by Pfizer Inc. and BioNTech, which has been given as a booster about 93,000 times as of Wednesday, covering about 0.1% of the population.
Novavax’s protein-based vaccine was submitted to regulators by its Japanese distributor Takeda Pharmaceutical Co., the company said in a statement. Pending approval, Takeda plans to make the vaccine in Japan and distribute it in early 2022.
After a relatively late start, Japan has fully vaccinated about 80% of its population, the most in the Group of Seven economies. Pfizer and Modern Shots have about 31 million doses left in the country, with deals to get 170 million more in 2022.
New coronavirus infections in Japan have slowed dramatically since the fifth wave that peaked in August. Experts say Japan began its vaccine push later, which could help keep COVID-19 cases down, as immunity from shots has not yet waned for most people.
Health Minister Shigeyuki Goto said last week that boosters should be given as soon as possible, rather than sticking firmly to the eight-month gap from the first two shots.
The Novavax vaccine received emergency use approval for the first time in Indonesia in early November, followed by the Philippines.
Takeda has said it can manufacture 250 million doses of the vaccine at its Hikari plant in western Japan, and has contracted to sell 150 million to the Japanese government. Takeda also handles the import and distribution of Modern Shot in Japan.
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