A health worker prepares to administer an AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine at a health center in Buenos Aires on July 27, 2021. (AP Photo/Victor R. Caivano)

       TOKYO -- Taro Kono, minister in charge of administrative reform and COVID-19 vaccination efforts, announced Aug. 3 that the Japanese government will allocate AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccines focused on the six prefectures of Tokyo, Kanagawa, Saitama, Chiba, Osaka and Okinawa that are currently under states of emergency over the virus.

       Local governments had asked for vaccines to be distributed while placing priority on regions where infections have been spreading. The central government will accept requests to receive vaccines until Aug. 5, and start delivering them to these areas on Aug. 16.

       The maximum number of doses to be allotted to the six prefectures are 579,500 for Tokyo, 390,600 for Kanagawa, 258,700 for Saitama, 305,600 for Chiba, 357,900 for Osaka, and 58,000 for Okinawa. As for the remaining 41 prefectures not placed under a state of emergency, distribution of AstraZeneca vaccines will begin on Aug. 23, with a cap set at 1,000 doses per prefecture.

       The Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare decided on July 30 to have vaccines by British pharmaceutical firm AstraZeneca PLC administered as a general rule to people aged 40 and over, based on the Immunization Act. The Japanese government has secured 2 million doses to cover August and September.

       The government plans to have the vaccines cover individuals who have received just one AstraZeneca vaccine shot overseas, as well as those who cannot receive inoculations using U.S. Pfizer or Moderna vaccines due to allergic reactions. In an Aug. 3 press conference, Kono emphasized that it is crucial to "curb infections among those in their 50s and 40s," and said, "We must distribute the vaccines properly to places that need them. We'd like to allocate them with a concentration on the six prefectures."

       Kono also touched on the issue of Moderna vaccine supplies to various countries being temporarily halted due to a delay in inspection processes, and said, "We're negotiating to have supplies to Japan normalized as soon as possible."

       (Japanese original by Kazuhiko Hori, Political News Department)

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