(Mainichi)

       Local governments across Japan are beginning to set priority vaccination quotas for elementary and junior high school students aged 12 and over, as coronavirus cases increase among young people amid the country's fifth infection wave.

       These include previously uncommon infections among young children and students, and transmissions from children to parents. A shortage of vaccines, however, has caused delays in some areas.

       On Sept. 2, the Tottori Prefectural Government began accepting reservations for priority slots at three prefectural government worker vaccination sites that are also open to the public. One is a children's quota (available to students even if they are aged 20 or over), and another one also covers guardians and other family members in the same household. The vaccines are produced by Moderna Inc. By Sept. 9 around 100 people had made reservations.

       Between July 13 and 26, people aged 19 and under accounted for 10.4% of infections in Tottori Prefecture, but from Aug. 10 to 23, the figure increased to 25.2%. Tottori Gov. Shinji Hirai commented on setting new quotas after the school summer break, saying, "School is starting and voices of concern are increasing."

       The city of Sanuki, Kagawa Prefecture, meanwhile, sought the cooperation of six local medical institutions to establish a "children's quota" for about 620 people, and began accepting priority reservations for those aged 12 to 18 on weekends and weekday evenings. The vaccines are produced by Pfizer Inc. In the prefecture, infections among those in their teens and under have stood out. Yuji Ishihara, head of the city's health division commented, "We took into consideration the risk of infection through (school) club activities."

       At the same time, there have been shortages of COVID-19 vaccines for children in some areas. On Aug. 28, Takamatsu, Kagawa Prefecture, posted an announcement on its website listing the names of medical institutions where elementary, junior high and high school children could be inoculated, but most slots were filled at the outset. An official said, "We don't have enough stock to use for priority vaccines for children."

       Osaka Prefecture, meanwhile, set up a mass vaccination venue at MyDome Osaka, in the city of Osaka's Chuo Ward in June, but even after the inoculation age was lowered to cover children from age 12, it has restricted vaccinations to prefectural residents aged 18 and over. A prefectural official explained that it was difficult to secure enough pediatricians. Inoculations for children under 18 are as a general rule carried out individually with a family doctor or other medical professional who can administer care to the child and their guardians, and implementation is being left to municipalities within the prefecture.

       Nationwide, the number of infections of under-20s has been trending upward. According to the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare, around 19,600 people across the country aged 19 or under were newly infected with the coronavirus in the week ending Sept. 7, accounting for about 20% of all new cases. The weekly figure is about 14 times higher than two months before. Cases of infection through club and group activities in which young children and students have been the source of infection have stood out, and there have also been cases of what appear to be transmissions from children to parents.

       Inoculations, however, have been slow. As of Aug. 31, while 87.5% of people aged 65 or over had received two shots, the figure for those aged between 12 and 19 stood at just 7.5%, lower than other age groups.

       (Japanese original by Hirofumi Nohara, Tottori Bureau; Sahomi Nishimoto, Takamatsu Bureau; and Masaki Ishikawa, Osaka City News Department)

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