About 740,000 COVID-19 booster vaccine doses made by Moderna Inc. have been discarded or are expected to be discarded in 27 major cities in Japan due to expiration, a Kyodo News survey shows, as the country has struggled to offer more third shots to people.
Japan will begin offering fourth coronavirus vaccine shots next week to the elderly and people with underlying medical conditions, the health ministry says.
A Japanese health ministry panel has approved a plan to initially administer fourth COVID-19 vaccine shots only to the elderly and people with underlying medical conditions.
Over half of Japan s population has received their third COVID-19 vaccine dose, with 86.9 percent of those aged 65 and above vaccinated, government data show.