Japan Ready To Start Vaccine Rollout
Health care workers in Japan are set to get Pfizer's coronavirus vaccine on Wednesday. They'll be the first in the nation to receive the jab.
A hospital in Tokyo received the vials on Tuesday evening. It will keep the vaccine at a temperature of around minus 75 degrees Celsius in a special freezer.
The minister in charge of the vaccination program announced that about 40,000 medical workers at 100 hospitals across the country will be inoculated first.
Japan's Regulatory Reform Minister Kono Taro said, "We are about to start vaccination, which is said to be the strongest weapon in the fight against the coronavirus. We hope many people will get vaccinated after accurately understanding its benefit and risk."
Kono said that elderly people will be next in line as early as April -- after about 3.7 million health care workers.
Local governments are preparing for the massive rollout.
Officials of the city of Yokosuka near Tokyo plan to allow citizens to get the jabs at a department store. Shopping discounts are being considered for those who get the vaccine.
Yokosuka City official Hasegawa Jun said, "We will try to let citizens know about the merits of the vaccination. It's our duty to get as many people as possible to be inoculated."
The health ministry plans to launch a survey through social media to find out about post-injection effects.
About a million people, chosen at random, will be asked about swelling, fatigue or fever. Pfizer says, as of January 18, about one in every 200,000 jabs triggered a severe reaction.
Once the government authorizes and rolls out vaccines from other developers, officials plan to expand the survey.
Ten prefectures, including Tokyo and Osaka, remain under a state of emergency. Government officials say the number of new cases continues to decrease, but the pace of that decline has slowed.
Health authorities across Japan reported more than 1,300 infections on Tuesday with 101 deaths. A total of 644 people are currently in serious condition.