A medical worker gets vaccinated ahead of the general public in Omura, Nagasaki Prefecture, on Feb. 22, 2021. (Mainichi/Yuki Imano)

       TOKYO -- Taro Kono, minister in charge of administrative reform and COVID-19 vaccination efforts, announced at a July 27 news conference that vaccinations for medical workers in all 47 of Japan's prefectures had been completed as of July 23.

       The National Governors' Association, which assesses the vaccination situation in each prefecture, also made the announcement on its website on July 27.

       Though it was initially envisaged that around 4.8 million medical workers would be subject to inoculations, as many as 5.67 million workers had received two shots, according to the Japanese government's tally.

       Inoculations of medical workers began on Feb. 17 ahead of the general public. Vaccinations in the last remaining prefecture of Hyogo were completed on July 23.

       Kono commented in a news conference, "Though the number of medical workers far exceeded the initial assumption, the task has been completed anyway." He explained that medical workers who required vaccinations later would receive shots in the same way as the general public.

       (Japanese original by Kazuhiko Hori, Political News Department)

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