Japan Eyes Administering Omicron Vaccines from Sept.

Tokyo, Aug. 30 (Jiji Press)--The Japanese government is discussing moving up from mid-October to September the start of vaccinations using improved COVID-19 vaccines effective against omicron variants, it was learned Tuesday.

With the country experiencing its seventh COVID-19 infection wave, the government is hoping to introduce more effective vaccines.

Improved vaccines developed by U.S. drugmakers Pfizer Inc. and Moderna Inc. are undergoing the screening process in Japan.

If the new vaccines receive regulatory approval, Japan is expected to import them from next month.

The new vaccines are a bivalent type with components to tackle both the BA.1 omicron variant and the original coronavirus strain. They are considered to be effective against the currently dominant BA.5 variant as well.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]