The government expects to complete the vaccination of about 36 million elderly people within approximately three months from the start of inoculations, according to an announcement by the health ministry.
People aged 65 and older will be given priority for inoculation against the novel coronavirus, and vouchers for vaccinations are scheduled to be sent out from mid-March. The Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry announced Monday at a briefing session for local governments that it expected to administer the required two doses of vaccine over a period of about three months.
The vaccine developed by Pfizer Inc. and BioNTech SE, which is waiting for approval from the health ministry, is recommended to be administered in two shots received three weeks apart. The assumption is that vaccinations will be given to elderly people who want to receive them, with the first doses to be completed within nine weeks of the start of vaccinations. The second shots would be given three weeks after the first.
The ministry has asked local governments to establish the necessary systems to ensure that the total period for vaccinations is about 12 weeks.
Taro Kono, the minister in charge of administrative reform as well as vaccinations, told reporters on the same day, "One of the goals is a system that takes two months and three weeks [a total of 12 weeks] to complete [vaccination of the elderly]."
Vouchers necessary for the elderly to receive the vaccinations will be printed by municipalities by March 5 and sent out after mid-March. As a general rule, the elderly who wish to be vaccinated will be vaccinated in the municipality where they are registered as a resident. Those who reside in care facilities for the elderly and other similar places can also receive vaccinations at facilities outside their registered municipality.
Vaccinations are expected to start in late March or afterward.
Inoculations will begin in late February for about 3.7 million medical workers, followed by about 36 million elderly, about 2 million people working in facilities for the elderly, and about 8.2 million people with underlying medical conditions.
Vouchers for people including those with underlying medical conditions and members of the general public who are not eligible for priority vaccinations will be printed by April 23, and sent out afterward.
The ministry also indicated that if the amount of vaccine in circulation is sufficient, it will allow, as an exception, employees at facilities for the elderly to be inoculated at the same time as the elderly. The ministry will allow the vaccinations to be administered at the facilities or at medical institutions nearby, provided that doctors are available to monitor recipients' health afterward.
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