Coronavirus outbreak updates: Jan. 21, 2021

As of 11 p.m., Thursday, Jan. 21

• Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. said Thursday it has begun clinical trials in Japan of a COVID-19 vaccine candidate by U.S. biotech firm Moderna Inc. with an eye to distributing it in the first half of this year.
  
  
• The Japanese economy is expected to shrink 5.6 percent in fiscal 2020 through March, instead of 5.5 percent forecast in October, the Bank of Japan said Thursday as Japan struggles to rein in coronavirus infections under a second state of emergency.
  
  
• Japan's exports in 2020 plunged 11.1 percent from the previous year, marking the largest fall in 11 years, as the new coronavirus pandemic battered global demand for industrial products such as cars, government data showed Thursday.
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• International Olympic Committee member Dick Pound on Wednesday reaffirmed his belief the Tokyo Games will happen this summer despite the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, saying the Olympics can go ahead without fans in attendance.

As of 11 p.m., Wednesday, Jan. 20

• Japan will receive an additional supply of coronavirus vaccine doses for 12 million people from Pfizer Inc., the government said Wednesday, as the U.S. pharmaceutical giant's vaccine is likely to gain approval for inoculation on Feb. 15.
  
  
• Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga said Wednesday that Japan aims to start coronavirus vaccinations "as soon as possible," as it struggles to contain the spread of the virus and concerns over the strain on the medical system are growing.
  
  
• The Japanese government has agreed with U.S. pharmaceutical giant Pfizer Inc. to receive a supply of the drugmaker's novel coronavirus vaccine sufficient for 72 million people within this year, the health ministry said Wednesday.
  
  
• West Japan Railway Co. said Wednesday it will place part of its workforce on temporary leave in February, targeting 27,500 employees to cope with a slump in travel demand due to the coronavirus pandemic.
  
  
• Foreign visitors to Japan in 2020 plunged 87.1 percent from a year earlier, marking the biggest rate of decline since 1964 when comparable data became available, the Japan Tourism Agency said Wednesday, as the coronavirus pandemic dented travel demand and travel restrictions were imposed.
  
  
• The Bank of Japan began a two-day policy-setting meeting Wednesday to assess damage to the economy from a fresh state of emergency over the novel coronavirus amid expectations that monetary easing will be maintained.
  
  
• Keith Mills, deputy chairman of the London Organizing Committee for the 2012 Olympic Games, told the BBC Tuesday he would be preparing for cancellation if he was in charge of the Tokyo Games.