Japan’s Health Ministry on Monday approved the use of Novavax’s protein-based COVID-19 vaccine, making it the fourth vaccine option available for people aged 18 and above.
Japan has contracted to buy 150 million doses of the vaccine, which will be manufactured domestically by Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. Takeda first applied for approval in December last year, local media Kyodo News
reported.Novavax is the first protein-based COVID-19 vaccine in the country’s arsenal, which can be used as both a primary vaccine and a booster shot. The vaccine is expected to be rolled out as early as late May.
According to
trial data, Novavax has a vaccine efficacy of 90.4 percent in adults aged 18 and over. The most commonly observed adverse effects were headache, myalgia, fatigue, and malaise.
The American biotechnology company also
announced that its vaccine showed 82 percent efficacy against the Delta variant in 12- to 17-year-olds, according to new clinical trial data involving 2,200 adolescents across the United States.
“We believe the Novavax vaccine offers a differentiated technology and option for this younger population given its established protein-based technology already used in other vaccines, and the positive responses demonstrated against variants,” Novavax Chief Medical Officer Filip Dubovsky said.
Novavax’s vaccine has also been cleared by Indonesia,
Australia, the European Commission, and the World Health Organization, among others.
The majority of Japan’s vaccinations were administered using mRNA-based vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna. While the government has approved Astrazeneca’s vaccine,
usage rates have been low due to concerns about blood clotting.
Last month, the ministry’s subcommittee said it agreed to purchase 145 million vaccine doses from Pfizer and Moderna in preparation for the rollout of fourth shots, Japan Times
reported.“We need to study recipients [of the shots] and the timing for starting them based on the duration of [the effectiveness] third vaccinations and the effectiveness of fourth shots,” chief cabinet secretary Hirokazu Matsuno said.
Health Minister Shigeyuki Goto said on
March 11 that the government will ensure that Japan has sufficient vaccines to administer the fourth dose, though he noted that the final decision will be taken based on scientific data and how other countries respond.
“In considering the fourth vaccination, the health ministry will make sure there are enough vaccines. At this stage though, we will make our utmost efforts to allow those who want to receive booster shots to be able to get them as early as possible,” Goto said.
Japan has never enforced a mandatory immunization requirement for the
CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, commonly known as the novel coronavirus. The Health Ministry’s website explicitly
stated that vaccination is encouraged but not compulsory.
Rebecca Zhu contributed to this report.
