Unused Covid shots piling up in Japan amid slow rollout | The Business Standard
Skip to main content
  • Latest
  • Economy
    • Banking
    • Stocks
    • Industry
    • Analysis
    • Bazaar
    • RMG
    • Corporates
    • Aviation
  • Videos
    • TBS Today
    • TBS Stories
    • TBS World
    • News of the day
    • TBS Programs
    • Podcast
    • Editor's Pick
  • World+Biz
  • Features
    • Panorama
    • The Big Picture
    • Pursuit
    • Habitat
    • Thoughts
    • Splash
    • Mode
    • Tech
    • Explorer
    • Brands
    • In Focus
    • Book Review
    • Earth
    • Food
    • Luxury
    • Wheels
  • More
    • Sports
    • TBS Graduates
    • Bangladesh
    • Supplement
    • Infograph
    • Archive
    • Gallery
    • Long Read
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Magazine
    • Climate Change
    • Health
    • Cartoons
  • বাংলা
The Business Standard

Saturday
June 14, 2025

Sign In
Subscribe
  • Latest
  • Economy
    • Banking
    • Stocks
    • Industry
    • Analysis
    • Bazaar
    • RMG
    • Corporates
    • Aviation
  • Videos
    • TBS Today
    • TBS Stories
    • TBS World
    • News of the day
    • TBS Programs
    • Podcast
    • Editor's Pick
  • World+Biz
  • Features
    • Panorama
    • The Big Picture
    • Pursuit
    • Habitat
    • Thoughts
    • Splash
    • Mode
    • Tech
    • Explorer
    • Brands
    • In Focus
    • Book Review
    • Earth
    • Food
    • Luxury
    • Wheels
  • More
    • Sports
    • TBS Graduates
    • Bangladesh
    • Supplement
    • Infograph
    • Archive
    • Gallery
    • Long Read
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Magazine
    • Climate Change
    • Health
    • Cartoons
  • বাংলা
SATURDAY, JUNE 14, 2025
Unused Covid shots piling up in Japan amid slow rollout

Coronavirus chronicle

Reuters
07 May, 2021, 02:50 pm
Last modified: 07 May, 2021, 02:55 pm

Related News

  • Health alert issued at Mongla Port to prevent Covid spread
  • Bangladesh records 2 Covid-related deaths, 15 new cases in 24 hours
  • 10 more Covid-19 cases reported in country
  • Chattogram prepares hospitals amid rise in Covid cases
  • Govt advises against non-essential travel to India amid rising Covid-19 risks

Unused Covid shots piling up in Japan amid slow rollout

Japan imported 28 million doses of Pfizer Inc's (PFE.N) Covid-19 vaccine through late April, but has so far used only 15% of the stockpile, with the remaining 24 million doses sitting in freezers

Reuters
07 May, 2021, 02:50 pm
Last modified: 07 May, 2021, 02:55 pm
A syringe with a dose of the vaccine against the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is displayed at the Tokyo Metropolitan Cancer and Infectious Diseases Center Komagome Hospital in Tokyo, Japan March 5, 2021. Yoshikazu Tsuno/Pool via REUTERS
A syringe with a dose of the vaccine against the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is displayed at the Tokyo Metropolitan Cancer and Infectious Diseases Center Komagome Hospital in Tokyo, Japan March 5, 2021. Yoshikazu Tsuno/Pool via REUTERS

Unused Covid-19 vaccines in Japan are set to reach tens of millions of doses, as the country is poised to approve two more shots in coming weeks and the pace of its inoculation campaign remains slow due to manpower and logistical bottlenecks.

Japan imported 28 million doses of Pfizer Inc's (PFE.N) Covid-19 vaccine through late April, but has so far used only 15% of the stockpile, with the remaining 24 million doses sitting in freezers.

Japan's vaccine supply is set to increase sharply as regulators are preparing to decide on May 20 on approval of the shots developed by Moderna Inc (MRNA.O) and AstraZeneca Plc (AZN.L), national broadcaster NHK reported late on Thursday.

The Business Standard Google News Keep updated, follow The Business Standard's Google news channel

The first batch of the Moderna vaccine had already arrived and an estimated 30 million doses of the AstraZeneca shot are being prepared by its local domestic partners.

Pfizer shipments are also due to accelerate to more than 35 million doses this month and next.

But against all this supply -- Japan has secured the largest amount of Covid-19 vaccines in Asia, as it gears up for the Olympics in the summer-- just over 4 million doses have administered to health care workers and the elderly.

It has inoculated only 2.2% of its population so far, the slowest among wealthy countries, and the government has an ambitious target of inoculating its 36 million elderly people by July.

To achieve that goal, Japan would need to administer about 800,000 shots per day, according to a group of business leaders urging the government to speed up the campaign, more than double the pace of the best days so far.

Taro Kono, the minister in charge of vaccines, said that there were snags in inoculation reservation system and that demand in large cities had outstripped capacity.

"Local government employees are really working hard, as are the call center staff so I ask that people refrain from issuing complaints as much as possible," Kono told reporters on Friday.

Japan began its vaccination push in February, later than most major economies, and logistical hurdles, mainly manpower, has also slowed the pace of its campaign.

About 2 million healthcare workers are still waiting for their first of the two shot regimen, and that has led to some frustration in the medical community, said Kazuaki Jindai, a physician and researcher in Kanagawa prefecture, south of Tokyo.

"It's not very transparent in terms of what's going on," said Jindai, who is still waiting for a second shot.

The government tasked the Defense Ministry to set up a mass inoculation site in Tokyo and Osaka by May 24. But there is still no timetable for when the general population will receive the shots and some health experts expect it could take until the winter or longer.

Representatives for AstraZeneca and Kono's office declined to comment on the NHK report on approval timeline. Takeda Pharmaceutical Co (4502.T), which is handling imports of Moderna's vaccine, did not immediately respond.

World+Biz

Covid shots / Japan / COVID-19

Comments

While most comments will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive, moderation decisions are subjective. Published comments are readers’ own views and The Business Standard does not endorse any of the readers’ comments.

Top Stories

  • Logo of National Citizen Party (NCP)
    People won't accept election date before July Charter is implemented: NCP on Yunus-Tarique meeting
  • Yunus-Tarique meeting: Jamaat says outcome positive for democracy, IAB says dispelled uncertainty from politics
    Yunus-Tarique meeting: Jamaat says outcome positive for democracy, IAB says dispelled uncertainty from politics
  • Taskeen Ahmed, DCCI president. Illustration: TBS
    'Will boost business confidence': DCCI welcomes agreement between Yunus-Tarique on election

MOST VIEWED

  • Wreckage of a Boeing 787 Dreamliner showing part of its registration "VT-ANB" in Ahmedabad, India, June 12, 2025. REUTERS/Amit Dave
    Air India Dreamliner crashes into Ahmedabad college hostel, kills over 290
  • File Photo of Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus: UNB
    Prof Yunus to receive Harmony Award from King Charles today
  • Energy adviser Fouzul Kabir Khan with other government officials during a visit to Sylhet gas field on 13 June 2025. Photo: TBS
    I would disconnect gas supply to every home in Dhaka if I could: Energy adviser
  • Bangladesh Bank Governor Ahsan H Mansur. TBS Sketch
    Bangladesh mulls settlements with tycoons over offshore wealth: BB governor tells FT
  • UCB declares no dividend for 2024 to comply with regulatory requirement
    UCB declares no dividend for 2024 to comply with regulatory requirement
  • UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus
    Disclosure of unconfirmed Yunus-Starmer meeting shows ‘diplomatic imprudence’: Analysts

Related News

  • Health alert issued at Mongla Port to prevent Covid spread
  • Bangladesh records 2 Covid-related deaths, 15 new cases in 24 hours
  • 10 more Covid-19 cases reported in country
  • Chattogram prepares hospitals amid rise in Covid cases
  • Govt advises against non-essential travel to India amid rising Covid-19 risks

Features

Photos: Collected

Kurtis that make a great office wear

7h | Mode
Among pet birds in the country, lovebirds are the most common, and they are also the most numerous in the haat. Photo: Junayet Rashel

Where feathers meet fortune: How a small pigeon stall became Dhaka’s premiere bird market

2d | Panorama
Illustration: Duniya Jahan/ TBS

Forget Katy Perry, here’s Bangladesh’s Ruthba Yasmin shooting for the moon

3d | Features
File photo of Eid holidaymakers returning to the capital from their country homes/Rajib Dhar

Dhaka: The city we never want to return to, but always do

4d | Features

More Videos from TBS

No Cash in ATMs: System Glitch or Something Deeper?

No Cash in ATMs: System Glitch or Something Deeper?

1h | TBS Today
Iran-Israel military power; who is ahead?

Iran-Israel military power; who is ahead?

3h | TBS World
Did the possibility of an Iran nuclear deal set back after the attack?

Did the possibility of an Iran nuclear deal set back after the attack?

4h | TBS World
IRGC chief Major General Hossein Salami killed in Israeli strike

IRGC chief Major General Hossein Salami killed in Israeli strike

6h | TBS World
EMAIL US
contact@tbsnews.net
FOLLOW US
WHATSAPP
+880 1847416158
The Business Standard
  • About Us
  • Contact us
  • Sitemap
  • Advertisement
  • Privacy Policy
  • Comment Policy
Copyright © 2025
The Business Standard All rights reserved
Technical Partner: RSI Lab

Contact Us

The Business Standard

Main Office -4/A, Eskaton Garden, Dhaka- 1000

Phone: +8801847 416158 - 59

Send Opinion articles to - oped.tbs@gmail.com

For advertisement- sales@tbsnews.net