Pharmaceutical companies Pfizer and BioNTech have filed an application with the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare for approval of their COVID-19 vaccine for children aged five to 11, according to a statement released on Wednesday.

Along with the application, the companies submitted data on the second of the three phases of clinical trials conducted in foreign countries.

If approved, the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine will become the first COVID-19 vaccine administered to children under 11 in Japan. Currently, Pfizer’s vaccine is available exclusively to those aged 12 and above.

Apart from the Pfizer/BioNTech medicine, Japan also uses Moderna or AstraZeneca vaccines in its COVID-19 immunization campaign.

To date, the country has administered over 193 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines, which means about 74 per cent of the population has been fully vaccinated. Over 77 per cent of the population has received at least one dose of vaccine.