Vaccination of health care workers to begin in Japan, with older people slated for April

The first doses of Pfizer Inc.’s COVID-19 vaccine will begin. handed over to 40,000 critical workers across 100 medical facilities Wednesday, Taro Kono, the cabinet minister in charge of vaccines, said at a news conference Tuesday.

The same workers will receive their second dose starting on March 10th.

Kono said it is possible that other medical workers – those who do not enter the first category – will receive their first dose before March 10 once there are second doses for workers. essential secured.

Vaccination of seniors will begin on April 1 at the earliest, starting after medical workers receive their photos, Kono said, adding that city governments are encouraged to take no more than two months and three weeks to complete this next step of the process. .

Vaccination of the rest of the population will officially begin after that, although it is possible that continued vaccinations of one priority group may exceed that of the next.

Vaccines are separate from Moderna Inc. and AstraZeneca PLC awaiting approval, Kono said, although their introduction could speed up the process.

Around 64,350 filters of the Pfizer vaccine arrived on a scheduled flight from the European Union last week. Kono declined to specify when the second plane will arrive with additional vials, but said the central government will ensure that enough vaccines are obtained to move the process forward smoothly.

The vaccination process in the United States has been hampered from the outset by long delays and the trust of public officials. Kono said Japan will certainly encounter its own problems as it looks to eradicate the virus, but the government is preparing to deal with such issues flexibly and swiftly.

For young people, who are more likely to be asymptomatic carriers of the virus, Kono said it is crucial that they get the bullet.

“It is very important that young people get the vaccine to stop the virus spreading further,” he said.

With the opening ceremony of the Tokyo Olympic Games and Paralympics slated at the end of July, it remains a major concern whether the spread of the virus will be sufficiently reduced by then.