EXPLAINER: Why Japan has been slow to roll out vaccinations

EXPLAINER: Why Japan has been slow to roll out vaccinations

SeattlePI.com

Published

TOKYO (AP) — Japan's rollout of COVID-19 vaccines began belatedly in mid-February, months behind the United States and many other countries. Officials blamed a shortage of Pfizer Inc. vaccine from Europe as the main culprit in the delay. But three months later, with shipments stabilized and officials attempting to accelerate vaccinations, Japan remains one of the world's least protected.

Officials say there is a critical shortage of trained staff to give shots. Despite Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga’s pledge to have all eligible people fully vaccinated by the end of September, some officials say it could take until next year. It will be impossible for Japan to achieve protective “herd immunity” in the two months before the Tokyo Olympics are to begin.

It's uncertain whether Japan's already-strained healthcare system can treat extra visitors during the games as it struggles to handle local patients and mass inoculations.

Suga's government is facing heavy pressure from a public increasingly frustrated by the slow vaccine rollout and repeated declarations of states of emergency. Many now oppose hosting the Olympics.

___

WHY THE VACCINE DELAY?

The slow start was because Japan requested domestic clinical trials in addition to Pfizer Inc.’s testing in other countries.

Dozens of nations accepted the results of Pfizer's multinational tests released in November and began vaccinations. The additional testing in Japan took extra months, though the government then took just two months to grant its approval for the vaccine, much faster than the typical one year.

The vaccine made by Moderna Inc. is to be approved later this month after a similar process for use at two large-scale inoculation centers in Tokyo and Osaka. Approval for a third, AstraZeneca, is pending.

___

WHY DID...

Full Article