After deliberations at a special task force meeting in late April, a coronavirus vaccine developed by U.S. biotech giant Novavax is set to be approved by Japan's Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare, it has been learned.
The Novavax vaccine will be the fourth COVID- 19 vaccine available in Japan. The government has already sealed a contract with the firm to receive supplies worth 150 million doses.
Novavax is a recombinant protein vaccine that uses parts of the coronaviruses protein. The vaccine's mechanism is different from that of other inoculations already approved in Japan Pfizer and Moderna's mRNA vaccines and AstraZeneca's viral vector vaccine. Novavax vials can be refrigerated at a temperature of 2 to 8 degrees Celsius, making them easy to transport and manage.
Takeda Pharmaceutical Co., which will be responsible for the distribution of Novavax vaccine in Japan, applied for approval with the health ministry in December 2021. In the interim results from domestic clinical trials, an immune reaction to the coronavirus took place after two doses of the Novavax vaccine were administered at an interval of 21 days. The vaccine's efficacy was approximately 90%. The European Union approved the sale of the vaccine in December, and some countries have approved Novavax vaccinations targeting 18-year-olds and up for their first and second shots.
The Novavax vaccine is eyed as booster shots in Japan. The government and the pharmaceutical contract covers the development and supply of vaccines responding to new COVID 19 variants. The government had already briefed local government officials in charge of COVID 19 vaccines about how to handle the Novavax vaccine in late March.