"We will be securing production facilities in parallel with expedited vaccine development," Japan's Health Minister Katsunobu Kato told reporters as he outlined plans to bring vaccines into use by the end of the first half of 2021.
Usually, plants for actual vaccine production are arranged only after the successful completion of development.
The Japanese government has earmarked ¥146 billion (US$1.3 billion) for vaccine production and distribution in the second extra budget that Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's Cabinet approved last month.
Japanese pharmaceutical firms developing coronavirus vaccines include
Shionogi and AnGes.