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25 May, 2021, 3:07 am
People wait to be processed after arriving to receive the Moderna coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccine at the newly-opened mass vaccination centre in Tokyo, Japan, May 24, 2021. Carl Court/Pool via REUTERS
TOKYO (Reuters) -Japan opened mass inoculation centres on Monday as it races to vaccinate most of its elderly population before the start of the Tokyo Olympics.
The centres in Tokyo and Osaka will vaccinate thousands of people every day, giving a boost to Japan’s sluggish inoculation drive as officials battle a fourth wave of coronavirus infections.
“It’s better to get it early,” said Tetsuya Urano, 66, who was among the first to be vaccinated in Tokyo. “It went pretty smoothly, all in all.”
Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga responds to questions from reporters at a May 7 news conference in which he explained his decision to extend the COVID-19 state of emergency until the end of May. (Koichi Ueda)
Local authorities in Tokyo and Osaka announced they will continue to strictly enforce measures to combat the COVID-19 pandemic as the central government extended its state of emergency until the end of the month but with some easing of curbs.
Within hours of Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga s May 7 announcement that the state of emergency would be extended until May 31 for Tokyo, Osaka, Hyogo and Kyoto prefectures and applied to Aichi and Fukuoka as well, officials in Tokyo and Osaka said they will continue their requests to local businesses to remain closed during the period.