Suga banking on Pfizer vaccine ending harsh winter

Japan’s state of emergency was extended to seven additional prefectures this week, with the declaration now covering more than half of national GDP. And there are early signs that the recovery in consumer spending is reversing even while restrictions still have a light touch. But regardless of how much worse the current wave of coronavirus gets, we expect the economy to rebound swiftly in Q2 and Q3 so long as vaccines can be swiftly and successfully rolled out.  With approval of the Moderna and AstraZeneca vaccines in Japan lagging behind, such a roll out rests on PM Suga being able to procure and administer the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine without major hiccups.