Unused Covid-19 vaccines are stacking up in the millions in
Due to lack of manpower and logistical bottlenecks, Japan’s vaccine rollout has been slow, in a nation culturally sceptical of vaccines and layered with bureaucracy.
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The island-state’s vaccine supply is set to soar as regulators look to approve
Around 30m doses of the
Shipments of Pfizer’s vaccine will likely be boosted to over 35m doses this month and June.
Olympic efforts
Gearing up for the
Four million doses have so far been administered to healthcare workers and the elderly, which accounts for just 2.2 per cent of its total population.
The slowest among wealthy countries, Japan’s government has set an ambitious target of inoculating its 36m elderly population by July.
To achieve that goal, the country would need to amp up its vaccine efforts to administer around 800,000 jabs a day, according to a group of business leaders urging the government to speed up the rollout.
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The 800,000 target would require doubling the pace of the rollout’s best days thus far.
Vaccines minister
“Local government employees are really working hard, as are the call centre staff so I ask that people refrain from issuing complaints as much as possible,” Kono said today.
Beginning its rollout in February, later than most other major economies, around two million healthcare workers still await their first vaccine.
The Japanese government has tasked its
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