Japan Struggles to Increase Vaccination Rate Ahead of Olympic Games

Expansion of Large-Scale Vaccination Areas and Vaccination Targets Starting Today
72% of Japanese Public Respondents Say "Vaccination Is Not Going Smoothly"
April Industrial Production and Retail Sales Fall Short of Market Expectations

[Image source=EPA Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kwon Jae-hee] The Japanese government is striving to increase the vaccination rate ahead of the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics, which are just over 50 days away, but the vaccination rate remains in the single digits. The majority of the Japanese public opinion also indicated that the COVID-19 vaccination is not progressing smoothly. Due to the expansion of the COVID-19 state of emergency declaration areas, the economic indicators for May also fell short of expectations.

According to NHK on the 31st, from today, the target areas and the number of people eligible for large-scale COVID-19 vaccinations in Japan will be expanded. The COVID-19 vaccination, which had been targeting those aged 65 and older in Tokyo and Osaka, will be expanded from today to include all of Tokyo, Saitama, Chiba, Kanagawa, and Osaka Prefecture. Originally, Saitama, Chiba, and Kanagawa were scheduled to start vaccinations on June 7, but this has been moved up by about a week. The daily vaccination capacity in Tokyo and Osaka has also been increased to about 15,000 people in total.

Previously, the Suga administration instructed local governments to complete vaccinations for those aged 65 and older by the end of July. Additionally, on the 7th of this month, Prime Minister Suga set a goal of vaccinating 1 million people per day. To achieve this, the Suga Cabinet revised the policy that only doctors and nurses could administer injections under the Medical Care Act, allowing dentists to administer injections starting last month. On the 25th of this month, it also permitted emergency rescue workers working at fire stations and clinical laboratory technicians at hospitals to administer injections.

The number of vaccination sites is also planned to increase. In addition to vaccination centers operated by local governments and the Ministry of Defense, plans to establish vaccination centers at workplaces and university campuses are also being considered.

However, despite these efforts by the Japanese government, the majority of the Japanese public believes that the COVID-19 vaccination plan is not progressing smoothly. According to a public opinion survey conducted by Nihon Keizai Shimbun from the 28th to the 30th, 72% of respondents said they do not think the COVID-19 vaccination plan is proceeding smoothly. Only 22% thought it was proceeding smoothly.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry announced that the industrial production index for April was 99.6, up 2.5% from the previous month. Although this marks two consecutive months of increase, it fell short of the market expectation of 3.9%. Retail sales in April rose 12% year-on-year but were lower than the market forecast of 15.3%.

The Japanese government has extended the COVID-19 state of emergency measures declared in nine prefectures including Tokyo until June 20. As of the 30th, the number of new COVID-19 cases detected nationwide was 2,877. The cumulative number of confirmed cases was 745,668, and the death toll was 12,989.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.