The government is "making every effort to start [COVID-19 vaccinations] as soon as possible," Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga said during a plenary session at the House of Representatives on Wednesday.
"The vaccine is key to containing the pandemic. We will ensure a thorough rollout of the vaccination program in cooperation with local governments," Suga said.
Regarding the recent appointment of Taro Kono, the minister in charge of administrative and regulatory reform, as the official responsible for overseeing the vaccine rollout, Suga said: "We will ramp up coordination in the whole government. I have instructed [Kono] to oversee the whole process and release information to the public in an easy-to-understand manner."
The government aims to submit a bill to the Diet this week to revise a special measures law to cope with new strains of influenza. Passage of the bill is expected in early February.
The revision will allow the issuance of penalties to businesses that ignore orders to shorten business hours or suspend operations. Suga called for the public's understanding, saying the revision will make "coronavirus measures more effective."
Regarding the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics, Suga said, "We are working out specific measures so that the Games can be held safely."
Yukio Edano, the leader of the main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, criticized the Prime Minister's response. "As the global pandemic has not been contained, it is irresponsible to move forward relying on wishful thinking alone," Edano said.
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