# 1508
A year ago Japan ordered 10 million doses of a prepandemic vaccine, based on an existing clade of the H5N1 virus, primarily for use among essential workers. They subsequently increased that order by another 10 million doses.
Now they are considering upping their stockpile to 30 million doses. Not enough to cover a nation of 128 million people, but far more than most nations.
Obviously, they don't see the threat of a pandemic as having diminished.
Gov't to increase flu vaccine stockpile
Tuesday, January 22, 2008 at 06:48 EST
TOKYO — The health ministry is considering expanding the country's stockpile of influenza vaccines with additional vaccines for another 10 million people in preparation for a possible outbreak of a new variant of human flu connected to the avian flu epidemic, ministry officials said Monday.
If realized, the resulting stockpile would cover 30 million people, including the current stock of vaccines for 10 million people and those for 10 million people currently being produced, the officials said. The stockpile is expected to help health authorities buy time to produce an effective vaccine from a new virus in the event of an outbreak, they said.
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