Over 70% of Japan’s population has been fully inoculated against COVID-19, government data showed Tuesday, ranking the country among the top three in the Group of Seven (G-7) nations after an initially slow vaccine rollout.
Of Japan’s population of 125 million, 70.1% had received two doses of a COVID-19 vaccine, according to the government.
Once vaccinations for people other than medical workers and priority groups started in April, the vaccine rollout in Japan has been progressing steadily. Other G-7 members, such as the United States and Britain, were initially far ahead of Japan in inoculating their populations but have seen their vaccination rates slow after reaching 60%.
The inoculation rate in Japan is now almost on par with Italy, which is second only to Canada, where 72.65% of the total population had been vaccinated as of Oct. 16.
Among people aged 65 and over in Japan, 90.4% had been fully vaccinated as of Monday, compared with 60.8% of people in their 30s, 57.0% in their 20s and 47.7% of those between the ages of 12 and 19.
A total of 185.98 million doses have been administered in the country, with 76.7% of the population having received at least one dose, the data showed.
The Japanese government has set a goal of finishing a second vaccine shot for everyone who hopes to be vaccinated in early November. It plans to start administering a third dose to medical workers as soon as December.
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