TOKYO (Reuters) – Japan’s health ministry said on Friday it agreed to buy 1.4 million doses of Daiichi Sankyo’s updated COVID-19 vaccine.
The purchase is contingent on approval of the shot formulated for the XBB.1.5 Omicron subvariant of the virus.
An earlier version of the mRNA-based vaccine was approved in August as a booster, becoming Japan’s first home-grown shot for the coronavirus.
During the pandemic, Japan mainly relied on imports of mRNA-type vaccines developed by U.S. drugmakers Pfizer and Moderna.
(Reporting by Rocky Swift; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman)
