Japan mulls extra $700 mil. payment for U.N. vaccine program

Japan is considering an additional payment of up to $700 million to the Covax Facility, a U.N.-backed program intended to ensure a fair supply of coronavirus vaccines in developing countries, government sources said Wednesday.Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga will unveil the plan in an online meeting of global leaders on vaccine rollouts slated for June 2, the sources said.The envisaged payment will come on top of Japan's initial offering of $200 million to Covax, or the COVID-19 Vaccine Global Access, Facility.Japan cohosts the June 2 summit with the Gavi vaccine alliance of governments, inter…READ FULL ARTICLE