Japan decides to allocate reserve funds worth $13bn for COVID vaccines, medicines

On Friday, the Japanese government declared that it would allocate reserve funds worth 1.4 trillion yen ($13 billion) to procure additional COVID-19 vaccines and medicines. As per reports, the amount would be invested to purchase supplementary vaccines and medicines deemed mandatory to smoothen the slugging vaccine rollout in the country, Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga told during a press meet. Japan has decided to secure enough drugs and vaccines for the "antibody cocktail treatment," Suga said during the conference. Earlier, Japan had invested over 800 billion yen (700 billion dollars) to ensure sufficient jabs for the Japanese population. The allocated fund also included over 200 billion yen reserved for the "antibody cocktail treatment," Finance Minister Taro Aso echoed PM Suga's statement at a press conference.

Roche's antibody cocktail 'Casirivimab and Imdevimab' treatment, formally known as Ronapreve antibody treatment for COVID-19, was first created by a Swiss pharmaceutical company Roche in collaboration with US-based BioPharma Regeneron. The treatment trials have proven effective to reduce serious illness among patients and treat mild symptoms of COVID-19.

Meanwhile, on Thursday, Japan suspended over 1.6 million Moderna Inc's MRNA.O doses, fearing the presence of "foreign substances," the Japan Times quoted Suga as saying. Reportedly, the announcement came after domestic health researchers spotted "particulate material" in a batch of the Moderna vaccines. The suspension came as a huge bump to PM Suga's target of achieving 80% complete inoculation of the population by early October.

Japan witnesses steep surge in COVID cases

Japan has so far completely vaccinated 5,52,72,655 people i.e. 54.9% and 6,92,61,828 i.e. 43.8% with at least one dose. Meanwhile, Japan has witnessed a steep surge in delta variant cases since the Tokyo Olympics. According to the Japanese Health Ministry, as of August 25, 21,570 new COVID-19 cases have been reported taking the overall tally to 1,339,115. Thirty people died due to coronavirus, taking the overall tally to 15,693.

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