Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida speaks to reporters at his office in Tokyo on Dec. 13, 2021. (Mainichi/Kan Takeuchi)

       TOKYO (Kyodo) -- Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on Friday asked Pfizer Inc. to bring forward Japan's contracted supply of coronavirus vaccine, a government official said, amid fears over the global spread of the Omicron coronavirus variant.

       Kishida held phone talks with Albert Bourla, chief executive of the U.S. pharmaceutical company, the official said. Japan is looking to move up the third vaccination shots by revising the planned eight-month interval between second jabs and boosters.

       The country is planning to prioritize administering booster shots to the elderly and health care workers, with Kishida slated to announce the plan in its entirety later in the day.

       According to the government's announcement in November, it plans to supply 24 million doses of Pfizer vaccine and 17 million doses of U.S. biotechnology firm Moderna Inc.'s vaccine to local governments by February.

       On Thursday, Japan's health ministry gave fast-track approval for the Moderna vaccine to be used in booster shots.

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