TOKYO (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 18th January, 2021) Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga said that Monday that a new ministerial position for overseeing the COVID-19 vaccination process will be created in the country, and Taro Kono, the minister for administrative and regulatory reform, will occupy it, the Kyodo news agency reported.
According to the prime minister, Kono was tasked with coordinating the work of various state agencies to implement the vaccination program as he has the knowledge to solve problems in different fields.
"Vaccination helps to avoid a sharp worsening of the situation. It is necessary to vaccinate as many people as possible as soon as possible," Kono told reporters after Suga's announcement on his appointment.
Meanwhile, Suga called vaccination a "decisive factor" in control the spread of COVID-19 and hoped that the campaign to inoculate the population will be launched in late February.
Earlier in the day, the South Korean JoongAng Ilbo newspaper published an interview with Kono where he said that the availability of the COVID-19 vaccine makes it possible for Tokyo to host the Olympics this year.
Last week, Kono said at the Reuters Next conference that Japan needs to prepare for the Olympics, "but it could go either way" amid the ongoing global pandemic.
So far, Japan has confirmed over 334,000 COVID-19 cases, including more than 4,300 deaths and nearly 253,000 recoveries. The global health crisis prompted Japan to reschedule the Tokyo Olympics, originally scheduled to take place in July and August 2020, to 2021. In September, Suga said that Japan is determined to host the Olympics in the summer of 2021.
