New COVID-19 Cases in Japan at 2,046 Showing 'Slowdown'... Vaccine Appointment Bookings Below Target

Promotion of Social Distancing Relaxation

[Image source=EPA Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Ki Ha-young] The spread of COVID-19 in Japan has slowed down for nearly a month. While social distancing guidelines are being relaxed, vaccine appointment bookings remain low.

According to the local public broadcaster NHK on the 10th, the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Japan was 2,046 as of 7:30 p.m. The cumulative number of confirmed cases reached 770,661, and deaths increased by 71 to a total of 13,939. Compared to the same day of the week a week ago, Japan’s daily new cases have been decreasing for 27 consecutive days from the 15th of last month to the present.

Accordingly, social distancing guidelines to prevent the spread of COVID-19 are being eased. The Japanese government decided to lift the "Priority Measures to Prevent the Spread" applied to three prefectures?Gunma, Ishikawa, and Kumamoto?after the 13th. The Priority Measures to Prevent the Spread are a level below the state of emergency in terms of COVID-19 control policies. Following this lifting decision, these three prefectures will stop requesting restaurants within their jurisdictions to refrain from selling alcoholic beverages starting from the 14th.

However, regarding the lifting of the state of emergency currently in effect in 10 metropolitan areas including Tokyo, the government is taking a cautious stance. Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga avoided a direct answer, stating, "I want to make a final decision after consulting with experts." Initially, the Japanese government had planned to lift the state of emergency on the 20th of this month.

Vaccine appointment bookings remain low. The Japanese government is trying to accelerate vaccination by utilizing large-scale vaccination centers operated by the Ministry of Defense, separate from local government vaccination centers. However, the booking rate for the two weeks from the 14th to the 27th of this month was low. As of 5 p.m. on this day, Tokyo’s large-scale vaccination center had about 112,000 bookings out of a total capacity of 140,000 doses, and Osaka’s large-scale vaccination center had about 47,000 bookings out of a total capacity of 70,000 doses unfilled.

To resolve the underbooking issue, the Japanese government plans to remove restrictions so that seniors aged 65 and older can make reservations at any vaccination center nationwide and to introduce phone reservations in addition to online booking.

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