Prognosis

Japan Vaccine Czar Says Inoculations Won’t Pick Up Until May

  • Initial rollout ‘will be very slow,’ Kono says in interview
  • Japan’s vaccination pace scrutinized in leadup to Olympics
Taro Kono during an interview in Tokyo on March 29.Photographer: Akio Kon/Bloomberg
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Japan’s vaccine chief said that the rate of Covid-19 inoculations in the country likely won’t pick up speed until May, despite already lagging behind some other developed nations.

Vaccinations for people aged 65 and over are set to begin April 12 across the country, but the initial rollout will be limited and uneven at the local level, Taro Kono, the administrative reform minister in charge of Japan’s Covid-19 vaccine program, said in an interview with Bloomberg on Monday.