Vaccination eligibility at state-run sites to grow

May 31, 2021 | News On Japan

May 31, 2021 (NHK) - More people will become eligible for coronavirus vaccinations at state-run, large-scale inoculation venues in Tokyo and Osaka, starting on Monday. Daily immunization slots at the sites will also increase.

The central government opened the two venues on May 24 to help accelerate vaccinations for elderly citizens.

Officials have so far limited inoculations at the Tokyo venue to people aged 65 or older living in the capital's 23 wards. Residents of Osaka City in the same age bracket have been eligible for vaccinations at the Osaka site.

But starting on Monday, eligibility at the Tokyo venue will cover elderly citizens living in any part of the capital or its neighboring prefectures of Saitama, Chiba and Kanagawa. Eligibility at the Osaka site will entail residents of Osaka Prefecture.

The expanded list of eligible people for the Tokyo venue will come one week earlier than scheduled because surplus reservation slots were available.

The daily vaccination capacity will also increase to 10,000 shots at the Tokyo venue and 5,000 at the Osaka site from Monday. The figures are the upper limits set by the Defense Ministry and double the initial capacity.

Doctors and nurses from the Self-Defense Forces have been staffing the venues with the help of medical workers from the private sector.

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