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(Adds government spokesman comments in 5th, 6th paragraphs.)
TOKYO, Feb 22 (Reuters) - Japan will only receive limiteddoses of COVID-19 vaccines for the first months of the rolloutand shots for the elderly will be distributed gradually, thecountry's inoculation chief said.
Pfizer Inc, the maker of Japan's only approvedCOVID-19 vaccine, is ramping up production in Europe, but thoseincreased supplies are not likely to reach Japan until May,Administrative Reform Minister Taro Kono cautioned on Sunday inan interview with national broadcaster NHK.
"We would like to start vaccinations for the elderly inApril, but unfortunately the number of doses allocated to themwill be very limited at first, so we want to start slowly," Konosaid.
Japan has negotiated to receive more than 500 million dosesof COVID-19 vaccines developed by Western drugmakers. Butdomestic regulators have only approved one vaccine so far, andthe nation remains dependent on imported supplies that have beenheld up by production snags and export controls.
As Japan and other nations consider how to stretch scarcevaccine supplies, a recent Israeli study indicated that a singleshot of the Pfizer formula may protect against the virus, ratherthan the standard two doses.
Japan's chief government spokesman said on Monday that thevaccine's regulatory approval was based on a two-dose regime.
"I think we need to carefully consider whether we canimmediately conclude from this study that one dose is enough ornot," Chief Cabinet Secretary Katsunobu Kato told reporters.
Since Kono was tapped last month to lead Japan's vaccinationpush, he has resisted giving firm timelines for when doses willarrive and be distributed. Even so, the government has stuck toa pledge to secure enough shots for the whole population of 126million by June.
Japan has negotiated to receive 144 million doses ofPfizer's vaccine this year, and its second shipment of about450,000 shots arrived on Sunday.
The inoculation campaign kicked off last week with doctorsand nurses getting the first shots. The government isprioritising vaccinations for around 4.7 million medicalworkers, about 1 million more than initially estimated.
(Reporting by Yoshifumi Takemoto, Rocky Swift and EimiYamamitsu; Editing by Stephen Coates and Sam Holmes)