Aeon to provide 290 outlets for Japanese coronavirus vaccine distribution

Aeon Co.’s leading retailer is intends to allow local governments to use their shopping centers as bases for COVID-19 vaccines, informed sources said.

Around 290 large facilities, including Aeon Mall and Aeon Town shopping centers, will be offered to cities struggling to find sites for inoculations.

Aeon, which has agreements with more than 600 cities across the country to use its facilities as evacuation centers in times of disasters, has decided after several local governments asked them about vaccination centers.

Among the amenities, the retailer plans to lease its Aeon Mall Zama shopping center to Zama city, Kanagawa Prefecture.

The centre’s multi-center hall will be used as a secure site and the lounge as a waiting area. There will be a freezer in the lump to store vaccines. The facility will be open to customers during the vaccination program, the sources said.

At the same time, Mitsubishi UFJ Finance Group also plans to devote its resources to using local areas as inoculation sites, other informed sources said. The banking giant will volunteer to support the vaccination efforts by renting out its properties in places including Tokyo, Nagoya and Osaka.

Mitsubishi UFJ Financial has recreational facilities and training centers that are not used regularly due to the pandemic.

The financial group will also provide ¥500 million to the University of Tokyo Institute of Medical Science and Osaka University to support the development of COVID-19 vaccines.

A health ministry panel on Friday gave a proper pre-trial of Pfizer Inc.’s coronavirus vaccine. for use in Japan, with health minister Norihisa Tamura saying it could be the first to receive formal approval from the country as early as Sunday.

The government aims to start vaccinations in the next few days for about 20,000 doctors and nurses who have been licensed to receive the sights, Tamura said.

Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga told reporters that he would make sure the vaccines reached the public “as soon as possible.” ”

On Friday, the first batch of about 400,000 doses arrived at Narita Airport at about 10:20 am on the All Nippon Airways Co. flight. from Brussels.

In a time of both misinformation and too much information, quality journalism is more important than ever.
By subscribing, you can help us get the story right.

SUBSCRIBE NOW

PHOTO GALLERY (CLICK TO ENLARGE)

.Source