Japan's government has signed a contract with US pharmaceutical firm Pfizer to receive about 144 million doses of coronavirus vaccine for 72 million people this year.
Health minister Tamura Norihisa disclosed this to reporters on Wednesday.
The government had reached a basic agreement with Pfizer to receive 120 million doses of the vaccine by the end of June. Last month, the firm filed for approval of the vaccine in Japan.
Tamura said the government officially signed the latest contract on the premise that the vaccine will be approved in Japan.
He said the government will ask Pfizer to supply vaccines so that as many people as possible can be inoculated in the first half of this year.
The health minister also indicated that the government will consider limiting the use of Pfizer's vaccine to people aged 16 or older.
Source: ANNnewsCH
