ILEA000060186: Coronavirus vaccinations in Japan

COVID quasi-emergency to cover 34 of Japan's 47 prefs. amid Omicron

Japan will decide Tuesday to expand a COVID-19 quasi-state of emergency to 34 of the nation's 47 prefectures with the addition of 18 more areas to stem the rapid spread of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus. Effective from Thursday to Feb. 20, the quasi-emergency is intended to reduce the strain on the health care system and prevent a shortage of essential workers that could result from a surge in infections and close contacts. The governors of the 18 prefectures, including Osaka, Kyoto and Hyogo in the Kansai region in western Japan, will be able to request restaurants and bars to shorten their business hours and stop or limit the serving of alcohol. Prime Minister Fumio Kishida is expected to make a final decision later in the day on the addition as well as on extending the quasi-emergency curbs that have been in place since Jan. 9 in Okinawa, Yamaguchi and Hiroshima prefectures beyond Jan. 31 to Feb. 20.

Japan to provide 1.24 mil. doses of vaccine to Taiwan

Coronavirus vaccine is loaded onto a Japan Airlines plane before its departure from Narita airport near Tokyo for Taiwan on June 4, 2021. Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi announced the government's decision earlier in the day to provide 1.24 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine to Taiwan.

Kobe football stadium to host mass COVID-19 vaccinations

File photo taken Aug. 8, 2019, shows Noevir Stadium Kobe in Kobe, western Japan. The city of Kobe and Rakuten Group Inc. said on May 21, 2021 that the football stadium will host a mass coronavirus vaccination site, and inoculations are scheduled to begin at the end of the month.

Japan gov't panel approves Moderna, AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines

Photo taken at Kansai airport in Osaka Prefecture on April 30, 2021, shows cargo containing the first Japan-allocated batch of Moderna Inc.'s COVID-19 vaccine unloaded from a Japan Airlines plane upon its arrival from Belgium. A Japanese health ministry panel approved COVID-19 vaccines developed by Moderna Inc. and AstraZeneca Plc on May 20.