With over 70 percent of Japan’s population now fully vaccinated, infection rates have dropped dramatically, leading to restrictions on businesses being lifted in Tokyo and Japan slowly reducing quarantine time for travellers. Now Japan is looking at the next step: administering Covid-19 booster shots. Last month, it was reported that Japan was planning to provide all residents who have been fully vaccinated against Covid-19 with a booster shot.
According to Kyodo News, a health ministry panel has now approved the use of Pfizer booster shots for people 18 years and older. Booster shots will be administered from December, starting with medical workers. After that, people who were fully vaccinated with Pfizer will be eligible for the booster shot starting in January next year. The government is also planning on making booster shots available at workplaces from March.
If you didn’t get Pfizer, don’t worry. The health ministry panel is due to discuss approving Moderna vaccine booster shots in late December.
For now, booster shots will only be an option for people aged 18 and up, but the government will consider extending boosters to those as young as 12 once more data is available.
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