Arab News Japan

TOKYO: Some high ranking Japanese business leaders, their family members and other wealthy individuals received an unapproved vaccine for the coronavirus believed to be made in China and was brought to Japan, local media reported in Tokyo Tuesday.

“It’s been reported that since November 2020, 18 people including top company members and their families have been vaccinated. The shots were brought in by a Chinese consultant with close ties to senior officials in the Communist Party of China (CCP),” the daily Mainichi Shimbon said in a report quoting “informed sources.”

The disclosure was based on information from a president of a major information technology firm who wished not to be named. He told the Japanese paper the details of getting vaccinated along with his wife at a clinic in Tokyo on December 12.

The shots were produced by the state-owned China National Pharmaceutical Group, or Sinopharm, and the fee for each shot was about US$97, according to the paper.

Japanese regulations are clear that such operation is illegal if the doses are brought into the country for personal use of the holder. Japan has not approved any China made vaccination for COVID-19.

Other unconfirmed claims said that a high ranking European diplomat based in Tokyo has distributed some vaccinations “to friends.”

Japan’s prime minister Yoshihide Suga told a press conference on Jan. 4th his government aims to begin COVID-19 vaccinations by late February. The Japanese government has reached broad agreement with Pfizer to get COVID-19 vaccines for 60 million people by the end of June next year.