Japan to reopen mass COVID-19 vaccination center to speed up boosters

TOKYO – A mass COVID-19 vaccination center in Tokyo was reopened by the Japanese government on Monday to offer COVID-19 booster shots amid criticism that the government has been slow to roll out the third jabs as the Omicron variant of the virus wreaks havoc in the capital and elsewhere.

The mass vaccination center in Tokyo’s Otemachi district is being operated by the Self-Defense Forces and booster shots from the U.S. pharmaceutical firm Moderna Inc. are being offered to those aged 18 and above.

Japan, however, lags well behind some other countries in administering third shots, with only 2.7 percent of the population having received them as of Friday.

This compares with countries like Britain, France and Germany, where over 50 percent of the population has been given booster shots.

The mass vaccination center coming online Monday may do little to accelerate the booster drive, as its capacity will be limited to administering 720 jabs per day.

At the same center in November last year, 10,000 shots were available per day.

Amid a resurgence of nationwide infections as the Omicron variant runs rampant, the Tokyo facility will step up its output so that 2,160 shots will be available from Feb. 7.

Despite new daily infections hitting 84,000 nationwide on Saturday, a record high for the fifth straight day, with new COVID-19 cases reaching 17,433 in the capital, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said he is not considering declaring a state of emergency for Tokyo over a surge in COVID-19 cases in the capital at the moment, as the Omicron variant of the virus continues to wreak havoc.

Read more: Japanese PM not yet considering COVID-19 state of emergency for Tokyo

The Japanese leader’s remarks came as he visited Tokyo’s mass vaccination center on Monday.

The hospitalization rate in Tokyo of those with COVID-19 is moving towards the 50 percent threshold whereby the metropolitan government would think about requesting the full state of emergency measures be implemented for fears that hospitals could quickly become overburdened if new cases continue to rise at the current pace.

Most recently, the rate in hospitals in the capital hit 48.5 percent on Sunday, prompting Kishida to clarify his current stance on the state of emergency Monday.

“A quasi-state of emergency has already started, and our basic thinking is that we will confirm its effect, see how the situation develops and work closely with municipalities before comprehensively making a decision,” Kishida told a press briefing on the matter.

“At least at this moment, the government is not considering declaring a state of emergency,” the Japanese leader said.