The Japanese minister overseeing the Covid-19 vaccination campaign, Tarō Kōno, expressed his concerns to the American Associated Press Monday 29 March. He called on the EU not to prevent exports of Covid-19 vaccines to Japan.
“I am extremely concerned that friendly relations between Japan and the EU could be affected by suspended exports”, he said.
The Japanese government has repeatedly asked the EU to grant a single export authorisation for all doses of the Pfizer-BioNtech vaccine to Japan, to no avail. Mr Kōno believes that the export licences issued by the EU are slowing down the process. “We are telling them not to affect our friendly relations, and I hope that the EU will give us a global authorisation for Japan”, he added. The EU decided to tighten its export licensing rules for Covid-19 vaccines on 24 March (see EUROPE 12685/7).
Japan has so far only approved the Pfizer-BioNtech vaccine and is also suffering through a slow vaccination campaign. (Original version in French by Léa Marchal)