Japan residents to get free Covid-19 vaccine

Japan will give free coronavirus vaccines to all of its residents under a bill passed yesterday, as the nation battles record numbers of daily cases. The country has secured Covid-19 vaccines for 60 million people from pharmaceutical giant Pfizer, and for a further 25 million people from biotech firm Moderna. It has also confirmed it will receive 120 million doses of AstraZeneca's vaccine. Japan has seen a comparatively small Covid-19 outbreak overall, with around 2,100 deaths and 150,000 cases, and has not imposed the strict lockdowns seen elsewhere.