Japan Accelerates Booster Shots for Senior Citizens and Medical Workers Amid Omicron Fears

Japan Accelerates Booster Shots for Senior Citizens and Medical Workers Amid Omicron Fears
Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida wearing a face mask delivers his policy speech at the start of an extraordinary session of the lower house of the parliament, amid the COVID-19 pandemic, in Tokyo, Japan, on Dec. 6, 2021. Issei Kato/Reuters
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Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on Dec. 17 said the government would accelerate COVID-19 vaccine booster shots for 31 million medical workers and senior citizens amid fears over the spread of the Omicron variant in the country.

Booster shot intervals for elderly people will be reduced to seven months, instead of eight months, from February onwards. As for healthcare workers and high-risk elderly people, Kishida said they would get their booster shots within six months after their second shot of the vaccine.

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