Japan PM Yoshihide Suga receives COVID-19 vaccination, will meet Biden in April

Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga has received the first jab of the COVID-19 vaccine before he meets with United States President. Yoshihide Suga is scheduled to meet President Joe Biden next month. Suga is the country's first government official to be inoculated, reported Canberra Times.

Japanese PM gets vaccinated

After getting vaccinated, Suga told reporters "it didn't hurt". A doctor had examined his eyes and throat before being inoculated. Japan began its COVID-19 vaccination drive last month with Pfizer and Biotech vaccine. Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga will be meeting President Joe Biden in the United States next month. This will make Japan PM the first foreign leader to hold face-to-face talks with US President who only acquired the White House in January 2021. As per reports, some 80 to 90 officials will be vaccinated before heading to the US early next month. 

Japanese PM to meet US President

On March 12, Japan government’s top spokesperson Katsunobu Kato told reporters, “If various circumstances allow, Prime Minister Suga will visit the US as early as the first half of April”. Japan’s top government spokesperson’s confirmation about Suga’s visit to the US in April came after the same was indicated by both Japanese and American media reports without any official statement. Kato even said that the Japan-US summit would include discussions about an open and free Indo-Pacific region,

“With this visit, Prime Minister Suga is expected to be the first foreign leader to hold a face-to-face meeting with President Biden," he added.

As per reports, Japanese officials have made it evident that Suga would be eager to meet with Biden in-person as soon as possible, to reinforce a key alliance especially when tensions with Chian are escalating. Kato even said that the Japan-US summit would include discussions about an open and free Indo-Pacific region, COVID-19 measures and climate crisis. However, the Japan government spokesperson also informed that the final schedule of PM’s visit to the United States is still being worked out.