TOKYO – The number of other people visiting COVID-19 vaccination services has increased amid the seventh wave of the coronavirus pandemic, especially among younger generations, whose intake of boosters has been low.
“I kept putting it off because I couldn’t make reservations near my home on Saturdays and Sundays,” said a 33-year-old man from Katsushika Ward, Tokyo, who received his third injection at a JR Shimbashi outdoor transitional vaccination center. Station on Thursday night.
The facility, which operates through the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, is open on Thursdays and Fridays for 3 hours at night, and travelers were able to get vaccinated without an appointment on their way home.
The launch of the booster began in December and 63% of other people across the country received 3 doses of a COVID-19 vaccine. However, this figure is 52% among other people in their thirties, 48% among other people in their twenties and 34% among other people over 12 to 19 years old. Meanwhile, other people under the age of 40 accounted for 60% of infections in the latest wave of the pandemic, making vaccinating younger generations a pressing priority.
The low recall among the younger generation is partly due to concerns about side effects such as fever.
“After the first injections and the moment, I had a high fever, which affected my work,” said a woman in her thirties in Saitama Prefecture. “Getting vaccinated on weekdays is troublesome because of work, but I don’t need to spend my valuable weekend getting vaccinated because I need to rest those days. “
In an online survey conducted through the Tokyo-based NLI Research Institute in March, another 500 people were asked why they were reluctant to get the third vaccine: 48% of respondents said they were concerned about adverse effects, 20% said two vaccines were enough, and 12% said it was too much of a problem.
The Ministry of Health, Labor and Social Welfare has designated August as Vaccination Awareness Month and is distributing brochures across the country promoting the effectiveness of booster shots in preventing infections and the onset of COVID-19.
According to the prime minister’s office, another 490,000 people received their third dose of the vaccine in the week ending Friday, up from 190,000 last week and 210,000 two weeks earlier.
Over the weekend, other people without reservation formed long lines at the mass vaccination sites of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government building and in front of Tokyo Station, among others.
The city of Nagoya opened an unreserved vaccination at a grocery shopping complex in late July, and Okinawa Prefecture is preparing to open such services at two universities. 400.
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