Only 35% of Japanese doctors managed to get both shots of vaccine against COVID-19 since February when the vaccination campaign started, Japan's business newspaper Nikkei reported on Wednesday
TOKYO (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 19th May, 2021) Only 35% of Japanese doctors managed to get both shots of vaccine against COVID-19 since February when the vaccination campaign started, Japan's business newspaper Nikkei reported on Wednesday.
According to the media, the situation in prefectures with high population density is even worse: in Tokyo and neighboring Kanagawa 28% of medical personnel received two doses, in Hyogo and Yamanashi - less than 30%. Over 50% of doctors underwent full vaccination only in Kochi and Saga prefectures.
The newspaper said that the problem is caused not only by supply disruptions, which emerged at the early stages of vaccination. Storing vaccines in big hospitals also slows down their further distribution. Personnel working in small medical facilities have difficulties arriving at vaccination centers because of their excessive centralization.
Japan launched the vaccination campaign against COVID-19 in mid-February, but has only fully inoculated less than 1,6% of its 126 million population so far. The first phase included 4.7 million medical workers. On April 12, the country began to inoculate elderly people aged over 65 years, expecting to complete this phase by late July.
