As COVID-19 vaccines need to be used within six hours of being thawed and diluted, municipalities are taking steps not to waste doses that are left over for various reasons -- compiling waiting lists of elderly people who live near vaccination sites, and public servants and workers at risk of infection.
-- Waiting list
In Katsushika Ward, Tokyo, individual vaccinations started Tuesday for elderly people aged 75 or older. The ward launched a program in which unvaccinated staff working at about 200 inoculation sites at medical institutions, as well as pharmacists working nearby, can be injected with vaccine that is left over due to such reasons as sudden cancellations by the scheduled recipients.
In preparation for mass vaccinations scheduled from Saturday, the ward compiled a waiting list of public health nurses who are deemed to be at high risk of contracting the virus, as a result of such activities as their inspections of nursing homes that suffered group infections.
"We're taking a flexible approach so as not to waste valuable vaccine," a ward official said.
The city government of Choshi, Chiba Prefecture, announced Tuesday that it would register the city's private nursery school staff for potential inoculation with leftover vaccines. About 250 people will be registered as early as this week, after the city has confirmed whether they want to be listed.
The Arakawa Ward Office will start mass vaccinations for the elderly on May 24. It has compiled a waiting list of about 130 health center employees who will receive calls if vaccines become available.
-- To those who wishes
A system called Mottainai Bank was introduced to the town of Tamamura in Gunma Prefecture and in Toda City in Saitama Prefecture. People who wish to be inoculated are on a waiting list and are contacted if there are cancellations.
As of Tuesday, no leftover vaccine had yet been administered under the system.
The Kofu city government has been testing a similar system in its Aioi district since April. A total of 60 people who could not make reservations for group vaccinations in which 500 slots were available on April 17, 18 and 22 were eligible for the waiting list. Sixteen people on the waiting lists were inoculated over the three days.
The Fukuoka city government has set up a support center to contact people on its waiting list whenever extra vaccine becomes available. Wakayama and Miyazaki cities have drawn up similar lists.
-- Flexible response urged
These efforts were spurred by reports of wasted vaccine since vaccinations for the elderly started nationwide on April 12.
A Kyoto facility for the elderly threw away three doses over April 12-13, while some vaccines were wasted due to sudden cancellations at mass vaccination sites in Hachioji, Tokyo, and Otsu as well.
"The vaccines don't have to go to senior citizens. I urge people on the front lines to handle the situation at their own discretion, so as not to waste vaccine," said administrative reform minister Taro Kono, who is in charge of Japan's COVID-19 vaccination efforts.
Some local governments call for unified guidelines in response.
According to Josai University Prof. Tomotoshi Iseki, who studies administration and is an expert on community medicine, "Efforts by each local government to devise efficient ways to vaccinate the elderly will lead to a smooth rollout for the rest of the public."
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