Japan reaches 100 million vaccine doses as focus shifts to youth

Japan has administered more than 100 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines and surpassed the U.S. in the proportion of older people fully vaccinated, according to government figures released Tuesday.

The vaccination milestone comes as Japan, like many other nations, is in the midst of a fresh wave of coronavirus infections attributed to the delta variant. Japan and Tokyo have reported record daily infection numbers for several days this month, as the Summer Olympics drew to a close.

Most of the new infections have been among those in their 20s and 30s, showing the impact of the gap in inoculation rates between older people and the rest of the population. As vaccinations open up to younger demographics, experts have expressed concern about hesitancy among the youth, who are less likely to get serious symptoms from COVID-19.

As of Tuesday, Japan had administered 102.9 million doses and 81.6% of its residents 65 or older were fully vaccinated, according to the Prime Minister’s Office. That’s higher than the 80.4% of the same age group fully vaccinated in the U.S., according to CDC data.

But Japan also has the lowest rate among the Group of Seven advanced nations of its population being fully vaccinated at 32.9%. That compares with 50.8% in the U.S. and 59% in the U.K.