Japan to Vaccinate Children under 12 against Corona

Japan’s Prime Minister (PM) Fumio Kishida said Tuesday that his country plans to expand the Corona (known also as COVID-19) vaccinations to children under 12 years old to deal with the latest wave of the disease, which is being driven by the highly contagious and transmissible omicron variant.

Kishida told reporters, according to the official Japanese news agency, Kyodo, that his government will reopen the mass vaccination centers run by the Self-Defense Forces across the country to give the third doses to the elderly at a faster pace, and then start giving booster doses to others next March, before the previously planned date.

The steps, announced by the Japanese Premier which go along with a plan to extend the entry ban for non-resident aliens through the end of February, are part of the government’s efforts to significantly boost countermeasures against the transmissible Omicron variant, according to Japanese government sources familiar with the matter.

With regard to the vaccination of children under 12 years of age, the Japanese government will initiate the necessary approval steps with medical authorities to vaccinate those who wish to receive the vaccine.

The Japanese government plans to distribute an additional 18 million doses of the anti-COVID-19 vaccine by the American biotechnology company "Moderna", which the government recently agreed to purchase.

The Japanese Ministry of Health gave quick approval last month to use the Moderna vaccine as a booster injection after giving the green light last November to the anti-COVID-19 vaccine from Pfizer for the same use.