TOKYO (Reuters) – AstraZeneca will ask a Japanese biotechnology company, JCR Pharmaceutical, to produce some 90 million doses of its COVID-19 vaccine so Japan can avoid shortages around the world that could make procurement difficult, the Nikkei newspaper reported.
The move came after Japan signed a contract with AstraZeneca in December to buy 120 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine it developed with Oxford University, the paper said.
(Reporting by Tim Kelly, editing by Louise Heavens)
