Japan Health Minister Vows To Secure More Vaccines
Japan's health minister says the government will try to secure more vaccines as soon as possible, as the number of healthcare workers hoping to get inoculated proved to be more than estimated.
Japan rolled out its vaccination campaign on Wednesday, with about 40,000 medical workers receiving the jab in the first phase. The inoculation will be eventually expanded to other healthcare workers.
The government had estimated about 3.7 million people would be lining up, but the ministry's survey found that an extra million hoped to get the vaccine.
Health Minister Tamura Norihisa said, "If medical workers are eager to get vaccinated, that will help ease any public anxiety about receiving vaccines."
Tamura said the government will try to secure enough doses to cover the increased demand, so the vaccination schedule won't be affected. After health care workers, the elderly will be next, potentially as early as April.
And for foreigners who don't speak Japanese, officials in some municipalities are preparing to provide multilingual services at inoculation centers. Volunteer interpreters will be stationed at a venue in Yamato City near Tokyo to provide assistance in 20 languages.
Mayor Ohki Satoru said, "We want to ensure that both Japanese and non-Japanese residents can be vaccinated without worry."
Tokyo and 3 of its neighboring prefectures have been under a state of emergency for the past 6 weeks.
The number of new infections has been on the decline... but its pace has slowed.
Professor Matsumoto Tetsuya of the International University of Health and Welfare said, "If people lower their guard and start doing what they have been refraining from doing, that could ultimately lead to a fourth wave of infection."
Reproductive rates in Tokyo and all other prefectures currently under the state of emergency are all below one.
The R-value is a figure referring to the average number of people that one infected person will go on to infect.
If it's higher than one, the number of cases increases. But if it's lower, the virus will eventually stop spreading.
President Tateda Kazuhiro of the Japanese Association for Infectious Diseases said, "The rate was declining, but it has been rising a bit recently. The trend continues and that could be an ominous sign. It would be difficult to lift the state of emergency declaration if we only maintain the current status."
The declaration will be in effect until March 7, but the government plans to lift it early for areas where the situation has improved.
Across Japan, health authorities reported more than 1,300 new cases on Friday with 64 deaths.