A woman receives a shot of the Sinovac vaccine for COVID-19 during a vaccination campaign at the Adam Malik Hospital in Medan, North Sumatra, Indonesia, on June 30, 2021. (AP Photo/Binsar Bakkara)

       JAKARTA/KUALA LUMPUR (Kyodo) -- Indonesia and Malaysia each received around 1 million doses of novel coronavirus vaccine from Japan on Thursday, as part of donations to Southeast Asian countries including the Philippines and Thailand.

       Japan flew the batches of the vaccine developed by Britain's AstraZeneca Plc to the two neighboring countries on the same day, while the Philippines and Thailand will receive similar amounts on July 8 and July 9, respectively.

       The move brings the total number of countries and regions being supplied by Japan to six, including Taiwan and Vietnam.

       Indonesian Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin told reporters, "This enormous pandemic can only be dealt with when all nations in the world are able to cooperate. It is impossible for a single nation to deal with it by itself."

       He said much of what Japan donated would go to places worst-hit by the pandemic.

       In Kuala Lumpur, Malaysian Science, Technology and Innovation Minister Khairy Jamaluddin said, "This vaccine will contribute toward a higher vaccination rate, especially for the month of July."

       He said the Japanese government's donation would enable health authorities to reduce the dosing interval for AstraZeneca from 12 weeks to nine weeks.

       Separately, Japan will provide from mid-July a total of about 11 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine to countries in Southeast Asia, South Asia and the Pacific islands through the U.N.-backed COVAX global vaccine sharing program.

       Font Size S M L Print Timeline 0