Japan’s Suga pick Taro Kono as COVID vaccine minister

Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga says the position as vaccine minister was filled by Taro Kono whose currently assigned for administrative and regulatory reform minister, will take on the additional role of overseeing vaccine distribution. Suga plans to launch the vaccination program by late February, using the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, despite reported deaths in Norway. Health minister Norihisa Tamura said earlier he’s hoping Pfizer vaccine will be approved by mid-February under an accelerated process. People older than 65 and front workers will be vaccinated, followed by people with 14 types of underlying health conditions including chronic respiratory diseases, cardiac diseases, diabetes, obesity and cancer. Kono says he will held hearings from each ministry on the current situation.