Japan will kick off COVID-19 vaccination next week, AFP reported referring to Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga.

The country has made deals with three major pharmaceutical firms to procure enough doses of the vaccine for the 126 million population.

The Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine is likely to be the first vaccine approved for use in Japan in the coming days following internal clinical trials.

Japan is now trying to get enough special syringes for Pfizer's vaccine.

According to local media reports, the syringe problem could force the country to withdraw from some Pfizer vaccine for 12 million people.