Syringes for vaccine shots are seen. (Mainichi/Naotsune Umemura)
TOKYO -- Japanese Cabinet ministers related to the COVID-19 vaccine rollout all met for the first time on June 23 to discuss challenges to speeding up inoculations.
Demand from businesses for workplace inoculations outstripped government projections by a wide margin, forcing a suspension of applications. Meanwhile, municipalities where vaccinations are progressing rapidly may run out of stock. Scrambling to resolve these and other issues, the government aims to complete inoculations for all willing to get one by the end of November, a goal set by Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga.
At the June 23 Cabinet meeting, Suga instructed six ministers, including the minister in charge of vaccinations Taro Kono and health minister Norihisa Tamura, to do their utmost for COVID-19 vaccinations.
"The total number of shots administered has reached 34 million, and about half of the elderly population has received their first jab. I would like all ministers to work in collaboration with each other and take the initiative in moving ahead with measures," Suga told the meeting.
The prime minister has previously sought to accelerate vaccinations and overcome vaccination staff shortages by allowing dentists and paramedics to administer the shots. Inoculations have reached nearly 1 million per day, and an individual close to the prime minister's office said with confidence, "In numerical terms, we've not only reached the point where we foresee all elderly people getting their shots by the end of July -- a goal set by the prime minister -- but everyone who wants the vaccine getting it by the end of November."
The government has, however, stumbled on a set of new issues. Workplace inoculations have turned out to be hugely popular, with businesses and other organizations applying for shots for a total of 15 million people -- far more than the initial estimate of several million people.
While the government is set to procure 50 million Moderna vaccine doses to inoculate 25 million people by the end of September, nearly 60% of those doses will in effect be taken up by workplace inoculations. Many of the companies applying are looking to get their employees vaccinated soon, and "there's a mismatch" between the vaccine import schedule and demand, according to a senior health ministry official.
Regarding Pfizer vaccines -- currently the mainstay for municipal inoculations except for mass vaccination sites -- the central government will have delivered 100 million doses by the end of June. However, the July-September supply will be just 70 million doses. Therefore, local governments "are worried that Pfizer vaccines may run out in the future," according to a source close to the National Governors' Association.
At an online meeting held between Japan's vaccine minister Kono and the association on June 22, many prefectural governors requested that the central government ensure a stable vaccine supply at all costs.
In anticipation of a possible Pfizer vaccine shortage from July, the government had already approved local governments' switch to Moderna -- a policy it will have to review due to workplace inoculation demand. As well as scrutinizing vaccination plans submitted by businesses requesting vaccine doses far in excess of their employee numbers, the government will also consider sloped distribution of Pfizer vaccines to municipalities that have been making rapid progress on inoculations, thereby seeking to ensure an efficient vaccine supply.
If COVID-19 vaccinations, which Prime Minister Suga calls the "trump card" in infection control measures, stall, it could affect the House of Representatives election which will be held before sitting lower house members' terms end this autumn. The government is being pressed to pull together its vaccination policy quickly to solve several challenges facing inoculation programs and dispel public concerns over the issue.
(Japanese original by Kazuhiko Hori and Shiho Fujibuchi, Political News Department)
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