Japan to import new-flu vaccine despite global shortage+

TOKYO, Aug. 24 Kyodo - The Japanese government is preparing to import vaccine for the new H1N1 influenza ahead of a possible further outbreak this fall, government officials said Monday, turning a deaf ear to criticism that this would tap globally scarce resources.

Amid a full-fledged epidemic of the new flu this summer, Prime Minister Taro
Aso is poised to give the green light, telling ministers in a meeting Tuesday
to secure sufficient vaccine, the officials said.
In July, Health, Labor and Welfare Minister Yoichi Masuzoe unveiled a plan to
import vaccine for some 15 to 20 million people to help cover shortages, as
production in Japan is forecast to fall far short of the needed amount for up
to 53 million people.
The government will use its reserve fund in case financial sources are
insufficient for the planned imports, the officials said.
But the plan prompted World Health Organization medical officer Nahoko Shindo
to express disappointment late in July. She said the vaccine is ''scarce
globally,'' and that ''I think the international community will be shocked by
such imports by Japan.''
Japanese manufacturers began producing new-flu vaccine in late July, but the
ministry estimates that doses for only 13 million to 17 million people will be
available by the year's end.
The figure was revised downward last Thursday from an earlier estimate of doses
for 14 million to 17 million people, whereas those for 25 million had
previously been assumed, and a further downward revision is possible, the
ministry says.
The health ministry is also considering a priority ranking for vaccination,
such as giving priority to medical workers, people with underlying diseases and
pregnant women, with the aim of reaching conclusions by the end of September,
the officials said.
==Kyodo