JAPAN plans to start vaccinating children under the age of 12 in March as the country braces with another wave of infections amid the rapid spread of the Covid-19 Omicron variant.
According to a Kyodo News report, Defense Ministry officials said mass vaccination centres run by the Self-Defense Forces in Tokyo and Osaka will also be reopened in February at the earliest to administer booster doses.
Through the centers, authorities hope to give third shots to senior citizens at a faster pace and begin the booster programme for others in March, earlier than previously planned, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said.
The government will use 18 million additional doses of the Moderna vaccine for the programme.
Japan's health ministry gave fast-track approval last month to use Moderna's vaccine as a booster shot after giving the green light in November to administer the Pfizer vaccine for the booster shots.
Pfizer has also applied to Japan's Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare for approval of its vaccine, targeting younger people aged 5 to 11.
As for inoculating children under 12 years old, the government will proceed with the necessary approval steps to administer it to those who wish to receive the shots.
"Many young people and children have contracted the Omicron variant. I recommend that youth aged 12 or older who have yet to get vaccinated do so," Kishida said.
In the southern island prefecture of Okinawa, where infections have been surging, children and youth up to age 19 accounted for more than 20 per cent of the total new Covid-19 cases reported on Monday.
The vaccination steps, announced along with plans to further extend an entry ban on non-resident foreigners until the end of February, are part of government efforts to strengthen countermeasures against the highly transmissible Omicron variant.
Only about 870,000 people, or 0.7 per cent of Japan's population, have received a third vaccine dose as of Tuesday. At present, medical workers and the elderly are eligible for the booster.
Kishida also said some 16,000 medical institutions in Japan can respond to coronavirus patients who are recuperating at home or in accommodation facilities.
He added that this was 30 per cent higher than the government's plan.
He said the government will consider applying revisions to criteria for hospitalisation for people infected with the Omicron variant to secure hospital beds.
The nationwide tally of Covid-19 infections topped 6,300 on Tuesday, up more than fivefold from a week earlier.
The figure follows a four-month high of over 8,400 on Saturday, which marked an increase of over 10 times from the previous week.
On Sunday, quasi-emergency measures took effect in three Japanese prefectures hosting or neighboring US military bases in response to surging infections that their governors say stem from the spread of the Omicron variant at U.S. facilities.
The government will also dispatch 10 Defense Ministry nurses to health care facilities in Okinawa, one of the three prefectures, by next Monday, following a request by Okinawa Gov. Denny Tamaki.
Medical facilities in Okinawa have been affected by a staff shortage as many are forced to miss work due to infection or coming into close contact with those infected amid a surge in Covid-19 cases in the prefecture.