Japan makes the first vaccines against COVID-19 to health workers in Tokyo

Japan began its deployment of COVID-19 vaccines on Wednesday, starting with an initial group of 40,000 health workers before later expanding its inoculation program to cover the elderly and people with pre-existing conditions.

The first shots were fired at a Tokyo state hospital, and vaccinations are expected to take place at 100 medical centers across Japan next week. The country has been relatively slow to launch inoculations against the new coronavirus, starting its program later than at least 70 other countries.

Vaccination begins when less than six months are left for the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics, and as public support for Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga wanes, amid criticism of a slow pandemic response.

Of the initial group of health workers, 20,000 will participate in a study to track the side effects potentially caused by the vaccine developed by US drug manufacturer Pfizer Inc. and German BioNTech SE, and how often they occur.

They will be asked to keep daily records for seven weeks after taking the first of two shots. The shots will be administered three weeks apart.

Medical facilities have been equipped with ultra-cold freezers capable of storing the vaccine at around 75 centigrade. Once extracted, the doses should be kept refrigerated and used within five days.

Another 3.7 million front-line health workers will begin receiving vaccines in March, followed by 36 million people aged 65 and over starting in April.

People with pre-existing conditions such as diabetes or heart disease and people working in care centers for the elderly will come later and eventually the general population.