Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said Tuesday the government will consider bringing forward COVID-19 vaccine booster shots for all people as much as possible.
In an interview with Kyodo News, Kishida said he will make the country’s anti-virus measures “fully operational” so people can feel safe.
Japan has already started giving third shots to health care workers, with elderly people planned to begin receiving theirs early next year.
Japan has not yet seen a surge in omicron cases, but the government remains on alert, barring new entries by almost all foreign nationals and offering free PCR and antigen testing in some areas like Tokyo, where community spread of the omicron variant has been confirmed.
“Besides 31 million health care workers and elderly people, we’d like to consider bringing (the schedule for third shots) forward as much as possible,” Kishida said.
The government is now seeking to accelerate the rollout of third shots, with health care workers and senior citizens receiving priority to get the shots six months after their second shots, instead of the originally planned eight months.
The health ministry has said it will consider bringing forward booster shots at workplaces and for people other than health care workers and the elderly.
U.S. vaccine suppliers Pfizer Inc. and Moderna Inc. have said that a third shot will boost antibodies and offer protection against omicron. The health minister approved the two companies’ vaccines to be used for a booster shot.
On Japan-South Korea relations, Kishida urged South Korea to abide by a 2015 bilateral agreement that settled the issue of so-called comfort women “finally and irreversibly” amid frosty ties between Tokyo and Seoul.
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